The top-ranked BYU–Hawaii women's tennis team recorded their 10th PacWest Championship in as many years with a 5-1 defeat of No. 9 Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, April 16, at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center in Surprise, Arizona. This was the ninth time the Seasiders (22-0) and Sharks (15-5) met in the finals of the conference championship.
With the win, BYU–Hawaii advances to the 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships beginning May 18 in Denver, Colorado.
No. 2-ranked doubles partners Nannan (Dallas) Zhang and Xin (Summer) Wen dropped the first two games to No. 1 Kristyna Hancarova and Nicole Hoynaski before taking the next three. The Sharks won two more to retake a 4-3 lead, but Zhang and Wen finished strong with five-straight games to end it 8-4.
No. 16 Min (Karen) Liu and Shu-Ying (Suzie) Hsieh defeated Lorena Gheorghe and Syna Kayser 8-6 in No. 2 doubles just moments later. Jade Griffin and Kanela Adamson gave the Seasiders the 3-0 match lead with their 8-4 victory against Oceane Adam and Julie Sauer.
The Sharks had their only win of the day in No. 5 singles when Jeong-Min Jeon fell 6-2, 6-0 to Gheorghe. Hsieh traded games with Adam on the fourth court before winning the first set 6-3 and having a perfect 6-0 second set. No. 1 Zhang only lost the third game in the first set on her way to the 6-1, 6-0 victory over No. 15 Hancarova to secure the championship.
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Writer: BYU–Hawaii Athletics Communications
