SURPRISE, Ariz. - Columbus State University's dream of advancing to the program's third straight national semifinals all came down to one match on Wednesday. With the 10th-ranked Lady Cougars and 14th-ranked Hawaii Pacific University deadlocked at three, Luise Sachs rallied from a set down at third singles to give CSU a 4-3 victory in the NCAA Championship quarterfinal round at the Surprise Racquet and Tennis Center.

After storming back to take the first three singles matches, the Lady Cougars (17-4) found themselves looking for one more win to punch their ticket to the national semifinals. However, HPU made things difficult, prolonging the match with wins at second and sixth singles to put all the pressure on third singles.

Sachs was up for the challenge. Mihoki Miyahara took the first set thanks to a 7-5 tiebreak win over the Lady Cougar before Sachs roared back to send the match to a decisive third set. Miyahara nearly dashed CSU's hopes, going up 4-3, but Sachs bounced back to win the next three games to clinch the season-saving victory. 

"These girls have been fighting back all postseason long, and they did it again," commented head coach Evan Isaacs. "We could have packed it in after losing the doubles point, but they showed some gut and determination out there to beat one of the top teams in the nation. The road doesn't get any easier from here, so we have to get some good rest for tomorrow." 

Columbus State will have a tall task in the semifinal round, taking on the top-ranked and unbeaten University of Indianapolis at noon on Thursday. The Greyhounds took down eight-seeded St. Mary's University 4-2 in their quarterfinal matchup.

Hawaii Pacific (9-4) took the first point of the afternoon, but it wasn't without drama. The two teams split second and third doubles, with the CSU duo of Valentina Abrile and Sara Ramirez Concalves coming away with a 6-4 decision in the second spot to get things started. Nicole Ballach and Marta Ruszczynska tallied the Sharks' first win of the day at third doubles after edging Agostina Bigotti and Yelena Labat 7-5 to put all eyes on the top spot.

In the swing match, two top-25 ranked pairs were going at it, with eighth-ranked Beatriz Lopez and Sachs taking on 22nd-ranked Marleen Tilgner and Miyahara. The match had to be decided in a tiebreak, with Tilgner and Miyahara taking the extra stanza 8-6 to put Hawaii Pacific on top. 

The Lady Cougars came out on fire in singles play to take control of the match. Ninth-ranked Lopez got revenge over 11th-ranked Tilgner at first singles, racing to a 6-3, 6-0 win at first singles for CSU's first win of the day. A few minutes later, two Lady Cougars finished off their opponents to inch Columbus State closer to the semifinals. Bigotti won fifth singles 6-2, 6-3 against Ruszczynska, while Abrile took down Valentina Mokrova 6-2, 6-3 seconds later at fourth singles to swing CSU in front 3-1.

Hawaii Pacific didn't go down quietly though. The Sharks tied things up following wins by 17th-ranked Busson at second singles (6-2, 5-7, 6-0 vs. 36th-ranked Paya) and Ballach in the sixth spot (6-3, 6-4 vs. Labat) to make third singles the decisive match. 

Sachs was up to the challenge, taking the 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 match to give Columbus State its first-ever win over Hawaii Pacific.

Columbus State is now one win away from reaching the NCAA DII national championship match for the first time in program history.