SURPRISE, Arizona.- In a fiercely competitive PacWest Championships Quarterfinal matchup, the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Hawai'i Pacific Sharks 4-3. 

The doubles kicked off slow for the 'Birds as Gregor Kliimask and Martin Ramirez fell 6–2 to HPU's strong pair of Mile Matic and Finnegan Heber on court two, giving the Sharks an early edge. However, the Sunbirds bounced back quickly as Brodie Sodersten and Emilio Seelbach answered with a 6–4 win over Jon William Karlstad and Aryan Vasir on court three, leveling the doubles score. The deciding point came from the top court, where Sven Bangert and Ben Cronau edged Jakub Beran and Yannick Heitzeberg in a tight 7–5 battle, securing the doubles point and a 1–0 lead for Fresno Pacific.

In singles, HPU struck first as Mile Matic, ranked No. 44 nationally, took care of Sodersten on court two with a 6–2, 6–2 win to tie the match at 1–1. Moments later, the Sharks went ahead 2–1 after Ramirez dropped his match on court three to Finnegan Heber, 6–3, 6–2. The momentum continued for HPU on court four, where Kliimask fell to Yannick Heitzeberg in a 6–1, 6–3 defeat, putting Fresno Pacific behind 3–1. The Sunbirds fought back on court six with a strong performance from Bangert, who rolled past Jon William Karlstad 6–2, 6–3 to cut the deficit to 3–2.

The pressure then shifted to the final two courts.

On court one, Ravi Nelson, delivered one of the most exciting matches of the day. After narrowly dropping the first set in a tiebreaker 7–6 (5), Nelson roared back to take the next two sets, 6–4, 6–2, earning a critical point to level the match once more at 3–3.

The deciding point came down to court five, where Seelbach was engaged in a battle with Arthur Pery. Seelbach dropped the first set 7–5. Down at one point 1-5 in the second set, Seelbach came all the way back winning six straight games to take the second 7-5. In the final frame, Seelbach gave his all, but Pery pulled away to take it 6–0, clinching the match and the team victory for Hawai'i Pacific, 4–3. 

UP NEXT

The Sunbirds will head to the consolation bracket where they will take on Hawai'i Hilo Friday at 1:00pm. 

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