SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Cougars fell 5-1 in today's PacWest conference tournament championship match for the fourth straight year against the four-time reigning champions of Hawaii Pacific.
Results
The Cougars trailed 2-1 after doubles as the No. 2 tandem of
Christian Schmid and
Shepherd Newcomb recorded the win for the Cougars 8-6. The No. 1 spot saw a top ten national matchup as No. 2
Oliver Frank and
Pascal Engel fell 8-4 to No. 9 Filip Dolezel and Jakub Hadrava.
Antonio Pejic and
Cameron Backman dropped an 8-5 decision at the No. 3 slot.
Pejics retired in the No. 6 position trialing 4-1 as the Sharks notched a 3-1 lead over the Cougars. Roberto Luconi was downed 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 5 spot as teammate Engel fell 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) at the No. 3 slot to clinch the match for the Sharks.
With the match decided Frank, Schmid, and Newcombs matches all went unfinished. No. 1 Frank one his first set against No. 7 at the No.1 position and came back in the second set 6-3, 6-6. No. 17 Schmid also faced a nationally ranked opponent as he fell in the first set against No. 10 Torben Otto and was leading his second set 4-6, 3-1. Newcomb was up one set when his match was called 6-3, 5-4.
The NCAA Selection show is this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. (PDT) on the NCAA.com/live website. The top three teams from the west region will be selected. The No. 1 seed earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships in Orlando (May 9-12) while the west region No. 2 and No. 3 seed will play for the right to go to the national tournament. It's most likely that the No. 2 and No. 3 matchup will be between UC San Diego vs. Azusa Pacific at a location yet to be determined.
