When two of the top men's tennis programs in the west region square off on Thursday on Oahu, there will be much on the line in addition to a win or a loss.

The No. 9 nationally ranked Hawaii Pacific Sharks will host No. 15 UH Hilo on Thursday (11 am) at the Kailua Racquet Club. It will be the third meeting this year between the two teams, with UHH winning the first match (5-2) and the Sharks claiming the second (4-2). 

HPU is the No. 2 ranked team in the NCAA West Region, with the Vulcans at No. 3. Among teams in the west, only Azusa Pacific is listed higher--No. 1 in the region and No. 8 nationally. 

With the Pacific West Conference Championships looming April 21-24 in Surprise, Arizona, the Vulcan-Shark match could go a long ways towards determining seeding.

Ironically, HPU's (1-1) only two matches thus far in this 2021 pandemic season are against the Vulcans. Next week, they will head to southern California prior to the PacWest tournament to take on Biola, Point Loma and Azusa Pacific. The Vulcans are 4-2, having taken that same trip last month, defeating Biola, Point Loma and Concordia, while losing 4-3 to APU. 

When the Vulcans and Sharks met twice on Feb. 14 in Kona, UH Hilo won the doubles point and captured singles matches on the top four courts. In the rematch, the Sharks won the doubles point and won courts 4-5-6 in singles.

HPU won the lone match played between the two island rivals in the pandemic shortened 2020 season (5-2), and the two clubs split matches in 2019 during a season in which they would go on to tie for third at the NCAA Championships, both reaching the Division II Final Four.