SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The run for Cougar women's tennis ended on Saturday morning, as Hawai'i Pacific was able to defeat Azusa Pacific by a 5-1 final in the West Region Championship. 

The Sharks jumped ahead early, winning two of three in doubles for the 1-0 match lead. The lone Cougar victory came at No. 3, where Courtney Page and Madison Kane had full control of their matchup and took the 6-1 win.

In singles, Hawai'i Pacific opened with straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to grab the 3-0 lead and need just one more win to secure the regional title. Azusa Pacific was able to grab its first and only point of the day one a win by Kane at No. 5, where she battled back from a first-set loss (4-6) to take the next two (6-2, 6-3) for her 12th singles win of the season. The Sharks would close the match out with three-set wins at No. 2 and No. 6. 

While the season ended sooner than anyone within the program would have preferred, the 2021 campaign will go down as a memorable one for Azusa Pacific. This year's team was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, which earned them the first-place seed to the PacWest Tournament, where they not only reached the program's first-ever conference title match, but the Cougars emerged as the conference champion after three hard fought matches. 

Today's match marked the final time that several players will play for Azusa Pacific, as Petra Ivankovic, Anna Savchenko, Jacky Wagner and Courtney Page each wrapped up their careers with the Cougars. Ivankovic was the 2021 PacWest Player of the Year, an ITA All-American (singles & doubles), and a two-time All-PacWest First Team Selection. Savchenko was an All-PacWest Second Team honoree this year, and was named an ITA All-American for both singles and doubles in 2020. Ivankovic and Savchenko were also named as a pairing to the All-PacWest Doubles First Team this year. Wagner was named to the All-PacWest First Team this season, which marked the second time in her career that she was an All-PacWest honoree (2019 All-PacWest Doubles Second Team with partner Kara Hinton). In Page's final year at Azusa Pacific, she and doubles partner Madison Kane provided consistent production for the Cougars at No. 3, as the duo went 10-1 overall and were named to the All-PacWest Doubles Third Team. As a group since 2019, these four helped lead the Cougars to a 36-14 overall record and two trips to the West Regionals, including a Regional Championship in 2019.

While the departure of these four players will be significant for head coach Mark Bohren, a group of proven returners alongside promising newcomers has the program in a great position moving forward. Carolyn Brooner (All-PacWest Third Team), Kane (All-PacWest Doubles Third Team), and April Wong (2019 All-PacWest Doubles Second Team) will look to lead the new-look Cougars in 2021-22.