SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Azusa Pacific men's tennis team couldn't get past the No. 1 team in the nation for NCAA Division II Hawai`i Pacific, losing 5-0 in the final of the Pacific West Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

Match Results

The Sharks have now won 19 consecutive matches against the Cougars going back to last year's 

conference championship match. Hawai`i Pacific swept singles play and got two singles wins before the Cougars could get a win of their own.

At No. 1 doubles, No. 5 ranked Yann Renault and Thibaund Berland got an 8-4 win against No. 15 

Gary Yam and Jan Meyer, who had a 4-3 lead before the Sharks won five games in a row. Maik Berlage and Marko Lenz won 8-3 at No. 2 doubles over Ben Eger and Pascal Engel. Juame Martinez-Vich and Graute Clemens also won for Hawai`i Pacific taking the No. 3 doubles set 8-2 against Shepherd Newcomb and Alan Leahy.

In singles, Martinez-Vich and Graute got the clinching wins with wins at No. 3 and No. 5 singles respectively. Martinez-Vich defeated Engel 6-1, 6-2 and Graute defeated Leahy 6-2, 6-3. The remaining four singles matches were not completed.

That included the marquee match of the tournament, which featured Meyer the No. 1 singles player in the nation, and Lenz, the No. 2 singles player in the nation representing the No. 1 singles position from the No. 1 team in the nation. They did complete a set and a half with Meyer taking the lead. He won the first set 6-4 and they were on serve in the second set at 2-3.

Hawai`i Pacific has now won the PacWest Title both years that the tournament has been played at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex, and is expected to remain at No. 1 in the nation going into the national tournament, which will also be held in Surprise, Ariz. Azusa Pacific, which is ranked No. 11 in the country and second in the region will find out if it gets the West Region's second bid into the 16-team national tournament on April 29.