On the verge of elimination, trailing with two matches left, the Hawaii Hilo men’s tennis team rallied for a 4-3 win over Hawaii Pacific in the final of the NCAA Division II West Region Championships in Surprise, Ariz.

In the No. 2 singles match, Alessio Demichelis was up against the wall, facing two match points against Felix Einig. Demichelis rallied to tie, then win the game and force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Demichelis rode his momentum to a 7-2 win, evening the match score at three.

This turned the attention to the final match in progress on court 4, where Luca Cecchia rallied from losing the first set to defeat HPU’s Marcel Hornung to give Hilo the comeback victory.

UH Hilo will head to the NCAA Division II Championships for the third consecutive season, which will be held May 18-20.

HPU crushes Azusa Pacific in West Region

The Hawaii Pacific women’s tennis team avenged a loss to Azusa Pacific in the PacWest Championship, storming to a 5-1 win in the championship match of the NCAA Division II West Region Championships in Surprise, Ariz.

The Sharks had lost their previous two matches to Azusa Pacific, including the PacWest Conference Championship match two weeks ago. They made certain there would not be a third loss, first winning the doubles point and then the first three singles matches before Azusa Pacific won its lone point in the No. 5 singles match.

The Sharks advance to the Elite Eight for the fifth consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament and for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.

Titans take 2 from UH in softball

The University of Hawaii softball team lost both games in a doubleheader Saturday at Cal State Fullerton, 11-3 and 5-4.

In the first game, Hawaii scored twice in the first inning before Fullerton answered with three in the bottom of the inning. The Titans expanded their lead with three more runs in the third and five in the fifth, bringing the mercy rule into effect.

In the second game, the Titans led 4-1 after three innings. Hawaii chipped away with one run in each of the next three innings, but Fullerton never lost its lead.

The Rainbow Wahine (11-17, 10-11) have lost eight in a row. The Titans (38-12, 21-0) remain perfect in the Big West.