SURPRISE, Arizona – After battling through the consolation bracket, the Hawai'i Hilo women's tennis team settled for a sixth-place finish after falling to Stanislaus State, 4-1, Saturday morning in the Pacific West Conference Championships fifth-place game at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.
The 10th-seeded Vulcans opened the 12-team postseason tournament with a big win over No. 7 Biola before falling to No. 2 Azusa Pacific in the quarterfinals round. Hawai'i Hilo then defeated No. 6 Academy of Art, 4-2, before falling to 12th-seeded Stanislaus State to end the week.
CONSOLATION GAME: #10 HAWAI'I HILO 4, #6 ACADEMY OF ART 2
- Academy of Art was short handed for the match, playing with five players to give Hawai'i Hilo a default win in one of the three doubles matches as well as for one of the singles points.
- While ART U battled the Vulcans tough on court two in doubles, Julia Barden and Nanami Okamoto wrapped up the doubles point with a 6-4 victory on court one.
- Academy of Art climbed its way back into the match by taking singles victories at the No. 1 and No. 5 spots to make the match even at 2-2.
- The Urban Knights looked to be in position to snatch the victory away after going up a set on both courts three and four, but the Vulcans' Hikari Osaki and McKenna Mountain battled back to take thrilling three-set victories to clinch the 4-2 match win.
FIFTH PLACE GAME: #12 STANISLAUS STATE 4, #10 HAWAI'I HILO 1
- After an opening-round upset over fifth-seeded Fresno Pacific, No. 12 Stanislaus fell to Point Loma Nazarene but continued to fight its way to the top with wins over No. 9 Metro State Denver and No. 10 Hawai'i Hilo.
- The Warriors took quick 6-2 and 6-1 victories in the doubles round for an early 1-0 lead before snatching up singles victories at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 spots to earn a fifth-place finish in the PacWest Championships.
- Nanami Okamoto got a 6-3, 6-1 victory on court five for the Vulcans' lone point of the match.
WHAT'S NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo finishes the season even at a 10-10 overall record.
Mahalo for your support of Hawai'i Hilo women's tennis this year.