Want the good news or the bad news first?
As expected, UH-Hilo’s men’s tennis team was awarded a berth in the West Regional and will head to West Hawaii on Monday with a chance to reach the NCAA championships.
On the other side of the coin Tuesday, the Vulcans softball team’s regional hopes were dealt a huge blow when they dropped a doubleheader at Academy of Art.
On the positive front: The Vulcans (16-2) will face Point Loma (14-9) at 2 p.m. Monday at Holua Tennis Center in Kailua-Kona for a berth in national tournament. The 16-team field will be held May 9-12 in Surprise, Ariz.
“We have worked so hard to achieve the opportunity to host the NCAA West Regional,” Vulcans coach Tina McDermott said in a release. “We are making every effort to prepare for this match and look forward to competing.”
UH-Hilo and the Lions squared off March 30 in San Diego, a 6-3 Vulcans victory in which they claimed all three doubles matches, splitting singles.
Azusa Pacific, which handed the Vulcans their first Division II loss this season in the Pacific West Conference finals Saturday, is seeded first in the West and will host UC San Diego in a regional.
As for Vulcans softball, the losses to the Urban Knights, who UHH led by one spot in the initial regional rankings, have the potential to be a season crusher.
Academy-Art (37-12, 20-6 Pacific West Conference) ran its win streak to 11 consecutive with 4-3 and 9-1 victories in Brisbane, Calif., scoring in every inning in the second game against Isabelle Meija and Cyanne Fernandez to hand UHH (29-15, 17-9) its first TKO loss of the season.
In the opener, the Vuls’ rally fell short when Kacie Freudenberger grounded out with the tying run on third.
Brooke Larsen (20-3) pitched a three-hitter, striking out nine and surviving six walks, three to Mari Kawano. With Leah Gonzalez (7-3) in the circle – six innings, seven hits, walk, strikeout – UHH fell behind 4-0. Maria Steadmon’s double, two walks and an error led to two runs in the fourth, and Kawano’s walk and Bailey Gaspar’s hit helped plate a run in the seventh.
The Vuls fell behind quickly again in the second game as Meija (5-6) got just two outs, and Fernandez was touched for seven hits in four innings.
Brinell Kaleikini was 2 for 2 with a run-scoring double, but UHH managed only seven hits on the day as it fell into fifth in the PacWest. The Urban Knights surged to second behind Concordia, which swept Cal Baptist on Tuesday.
In the West rankings released last Wednesday, Concordia, Cal Baptist and Dixie State held down the No. 2-4 spots, UHH was eighth and Academy-Art was ninth. The top eight in the final rankings advance.
The Urban Knights still have games left at Cal Baptist and Dixie State, while the Vulcans return home Friday to face Hawaii Pacific before finishing the regular season at Chaminade.
Pac West softball standings
Conf. Overall
Concordia 22-6 40-12
Academy of Art 20-6 37-12
California Baptist 23-7 31-10
Dixie State 20-8 36-8
Hawaii Hilo 17-9 29-15
Biola 15-13 32-16
Hawai’i Pacific 14-14 21-18
Azusa Pacific 12-16 19-24
Dominican 8-20 17-31
N.D. de Namur 7-23 11-40
Chaminade 6-22 10-30
Holy Names 4-24 4-36