(SURPRISE, Ariz.) No. 2 seed PLNU Women's Tennis advanced to a second straight PacWest Championship Match with a 4-2 semifinal victory over No. 3 seed Hawai'i Pacific on Thursday afternoon.
Melissa Zirkle sealed the Sea Lions' spot in the conference championship with her 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 victory at No. 6 singles.
Point Loma claimed what proved to be a crucial doubles point with wins on Courts No. 2 and 1.
Alina Kupfer and
Perla Conde Vendrell won 6-2 at No. 2 before
Emely Valencia Andrejeva and
Anna Pallencaoe prevailed in a tiebreak at No. 1.
PLNU's top duo trailed 1-2 in the tiebreak but won six of the next seven points to put Point Loma up 1-0 in the match.
Valencia Andrejeva then gave the Sea Lions a 2-0 lead with her 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 2, before
Zoe Moley put the Sharks on the brink with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback win at No. 5.
HPU made it interesting, cutting its deficit to 2-3 with the two remaining singles matches going to a third set. However, Zirkle won the final two games of her match to win the third set 7-5 and send the Sea Lions to the PacWest Championship Match once again.
A year after winning its first PacWest title in its first ever championship match appearance, Point Loma (17-3 overall) will look to defend its conference crown in Friday's title tilt against No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific (22-2).
Doubles play in Surprise, Arizona is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
