SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Azusa Pacific men's and women's tennis teams both earned the No. 1 seeds at the PacWest Tennis Championships on April 17-19 in Surprise, Arizona. The draws for the conference championship were announced on Sunday evening by the conference office.

It is just the fourth time in conference history that the same school has earned the No. 1 seed on both sides. Azusa Pacific has now done it twice (2021 & 2025) and Hawai`i Pacific has done it twice (2022 & 2023). The men's team will start the tournament against No. 8 seed Hawai`i Hilo at 1 p.m. on Thursday, while the women will face the winner of No. 8 MSU Denver and No. 9 Stanislaus State at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals. The conference winner on both sides will earn an automatic bid into the NCAA West Regional.

The women's team has an all-time record of 19-14 at the PacWest Championships and has reached the conference final in each of the last four years. The Cougars took home the trophy in both 2021 and 2022, becoming just the third team in conference history to win multiple PacWest titles. This is only the second time in program history that Azusa Pacific has earned the No. 1 seed on the women's side. 

Against No. 8 seed MSU Denver, Azusa Pacific won 4-0 in their only previous meeting this season, and the Cougars also won 7-0 against No. 9 Stanislaus State at home. Dominican is the No. 4 seed on the same half of the draw as the Cougars, but the two teams did not meet this season. Amazingly, Dominican and Azusa Pacific have only faced each other twice in 13 years in the same conference. The Cougars won both meetings, 5-0, with the last coming in 2018.

On the men's side, Azusa Pacific is riding a nine-match winning streak at the PacWest Championships, which is the second-longest streak in conference history, trailing only Hawai`i Pacific's 13 wins in 2013-17. The Cougars are going for the "PacWest Slam," winning four conference titles in a row.

Azusa Pacific is the all-time leader in PacWest Championships wins on the men's side with 24, one ahead of Hawai`i Pacific. Elias Emilio Walter, the reigning Tournament MVP, has won five singles matches in his career at the conference tournament, putting him three wins away from tying the conference record. He is projected to get a rematch with Jaime Paquet in the first round.

The Cougars won the first meeting against Hawai`i Hilo 4-3 at home. No. 4 Hawai`i Pacific and No. 5 Fresno Pacific are the other two teams on the same half of the draw as the Cougars. They won 6-1 against Hawai`i Pacific, whose No. 1 player Jakub Beran is expected to be back for the conference tournament. The Cougars also swept Fresno Pacific, winning the most recent meeting 7-0.

All matches will have live scoring available at iOnCourt. All of the women's matches will be at 9 a.m., while all the men's matches will not start before 1 p.m. The All-PacWest teams and awards will be announced at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club on Wednesday night before quarterfinal action begins in the morning.