GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Championship gets underway this Thursday, April 15, at the Paseo Racquet Club in Glendale, Ariz.
 
Reigning conference champion BYU-Hawaii will attempt to defend its title when the Seasiders open up play on Thursday as the top-seeded team in the tournament. Eight of the nine PacWest women's tennis teams qualified for the event that will crown a champion on Saturday afternoon.
 
Seedings for the PacWest Championship are based on the March 30 ITA/NCAA Division II West Region Poll. The poll consists of the following 10 teams:
 
  1. BYU-Hawaii
  2. Hawai'i Pacific University
  3. UC San Diego
  4. Cal State Stanislaus
  5. Cal Poly Pomona
  6. Sonoma State University
  7. Cal State Los Angeles
  8. Chaminade University
  9. Grand Canyon University
10. Dixie State College
 
Entering the tournament, BYU-Hawaii, HPU, Chaminade, Grand Canyon, and Dixie State grab the top five slots, respectively, in the tournament bracket.
 
For teams not included in the regional ranking, seeding is determined by the tournament committee with input from the conference head coaches.
 
The University of Hawai'i at Hilo's win over Academy of Art University this year bumped the Vulcans to the sixth seed, while AAU grabbed the seventh seed by virtue of its four victories over Dominican University of California during the 2010 campaign. Dominican snared the final tournament slot after defeating Notre Dame de Namur University head-to-head this season, preventing the Argonauts from making the field.
 
All eight squads will play one match each day for three straight days as the teams play out the bracket to decide a champion and to settle third, fifth and seventh place.
 
Matches will be held at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, while Saturday's finales will take place at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
 
Once a team reaches five victories in a dual match, the contest is immediately over. However, the coaches of the PacWest have an option to play out all nine singles and doubles matches if they choose to do so during Wednesday evening's pre-tournament championship meeting. The actual match times will be determined during Wednesday evening's meeting as well.
 
When the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines PacWest Women's Tennis Championship commence on Thursday, the following matchups will be featured:
 
#8 Dominican vs. #1 BYU-Hawaii
#2 Hawai'i Pacific vs. #7 Academy of Art
#3 Chaminade vs. #6 Hawai'i Hilo
#4 Grand canyon vs. #5 Dixie State
 
Fans of the PacWest and its member institutions, can follow the results of the Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Championships at www.pacificwestsports.org. Check out complete tennis statistics and box scores on the PacWest Women's tennis website.