SURPRISE, Ariz.--The University of Hawai`i Hilo and Hawai`i Pacific University have played each other four times all ready this year. On Saturday, there will be a fifth, with the most at stake.

The Vulcans and Sharks both won their semifinal matches at the NCAA West Regional tournament on Friday, setting up an all-Hawaii final on Saturday at 2 pm PT at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center. UH Hilo topped Concordia 4-0, and Hawaii Pacific stunned Azusa Pacific, 4-2. 

The winner of Saturday's match advances to the NCAA Championships as the West Region representative.

The Vulcans, now 9-2, took down the Eagles (9-8) for the second time this season. The Sharks (6-4) defeated the Cougars (17-5). UH Hilo has won 3 of 4 matches against the Sharks this year, but in a rivaly match between friends, anything can happen. 

"They are very, very good," said Vulcan head coach Kallen Mizuguchi. "All of our matches against them have very difficult."

The Vulcans were solid today in a semifinal win over the Eagles. 

It began with mostly tight-as-can-be doubles action. The Vulcans won quickly on court two, with Luca Checchia and Joshua Liu winning 6-0. But the action on courts one and three both went extra time.

On court three, Chun En Wu and Alessio Demichelis were down 5-2, with the Eagles one set away from the equalizing doubles point. But the Vulcan pair roared back to take the match to a tiebreaker, 6-6 (3-3). In the middle of that tiebreaker, Martin Soukal and Santiago Di Loreto were also in extra time and finally put away Yassime Smiej and Mike Jansen, 7-6 (7-5). 

The Vulcans took the momentum of that 1-0 lead into singles. En Wu finished next for UHH with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Jan Simon, and Liu followed with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on court six over Sofian Tayebi. 

Soukal was about to clinch the match earlier, up 6-3, 5-1 over Smiej, but the Concordia No. 1 rallied back to 5-3. Soukal, ranked #22 in the latest ITA rankings, served out the match for the 6-3, 6-3 triumph.

Demichelis was one game away from winning on court two (6-4, 5-2), and Checchia was up 6-4, 2-0 on court four. The only set UHH dropped was on court five and it was tight, with DiLoreto falling to Jansen, 6-7 (3-7), 1-2, UNF.

"I'm happy with how we played," Mizuguchi added. "We started out slow but moved into it after that. Doubles gave us the starting point and we played off of each other in terms of energy."

Earlier today, the latest ITA National Division II rankings came out, featuring UHH at No. 6. Azusa Pacific was No. 8, Hawaii Pacific No. 12 and Concordia No. 16.
  Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center, Surprise, Arizona

Singles competition
1. Martin Soukal (UHH) def. Yassine Smiej (CUI), 6-3, 6-3.
2. Alessio Demichelis (UHH) vs. Patrick Wong (CUI), 6-4, 5-2, UNF.
3. Chun En Wu (UHH) def. Jan Simon (CUI), 6-1, 6-2.
4. Luca Checchia (UHH) vs. Benjamin Buck (CUI), 6-4, 2-0, UNF.
5. Santiago Di Loreto (UHH) vs. Mike Jansen (CUI), 6-7 (3-7), 1-2, UNF
6. Joshua Liu (UHH) def. Sofian Tayebi (CUI), 6-4, 6-0.
Singles order of finish: 3-6-1.

Doubles competition
1. Soukal/Di Loreto (UHH) def. Smiej/Jansen (CUI), 7-6 (7-5)
2. Checchia/Liu (UHH) def. Wong/Simon (CUI), 6-0.
3. En Wu/Demichelis (UHH) vs. Buck/ GertjanDeWilder (CUI), 6-6 (3-3), UNF
Doubles order of finish: 2-1

Records: No. 6 UH Hilo 9-2, No. 16 Concordia 9-8