IRVINE, Calif. - Both Concordia University Irvine tennis squads had high hopes of pulling upsets in the semifinals of the PacWest Conference Championships.

However, the top-seeded Hawaii Pacific Sharks on the men's side of the bracket and the Azusa Pacific women's team had other plans. CUI battled hard on the courts but wound up losing so both teams will now have to regroup in the third place matches on Saturday. 

In the women's bracket, APU earned the doubles point to take the early 1-0 lead and then quickly wrapped up wins at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 singles spots. 

Alicia Da Re was leading her match for CUI at the No. 6 position and won the first set, but her match went unfinished as well as did the match on court three.

CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest Conference Tournament Brackets

On the men's side,the Golden Eagles ceded the doubles point as well but kept grinding. 

Julius Seifert locked up a point at No. 2 singles by defeating Jakob Beran 6-3, 6-2.  However, HPU earned a win at the No. 1 singles spot and also at the No. 3 and No. 5 positions. 

Adam Large held a sizable lead on court six by winning the first set and building a 3-0 lead in set two but ultimately that match went unfinished. 

Both CUI squads will now face Point Loma in those third place matches. The women play again at 9:00 a.m. and the men will face off at 1:00 p.m.

These matches are extremely important because they can help either CUI team potentially add to their resume to make the upcoming NCAA DII Regional Tournament.  The selections will be announced on Monday, April 24.  Both Concordia tennis teams are trying to qualify for the second time in school history after doing so a couple of seasons ago in the spring of 2021.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's tennis schedule

CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's tennis schedule