UH advances to Big West tennis final

The University of Hawaii women’s tennis team advanced to the Big West tournament final with a 4-1 win over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday in Indian Wells, Calif.

The top-seeded Rainbow Wahine face No. 2 UC Santa Barbara in today’s championship match at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. UCSB swept UH 4-0 in last year’s final and UH won this season’s regular-season meeting 4-1 on March 30.

UH swept Cal State Fullerton in doubles to earn the first point of the match. Marina Hruba and Nikola Dolakova won their singles matches in straight sets and freshman Michelle Pits defeated CSF’s Danielle Pham 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to clinch the win for UH.

UH water polo falls in Big West semifinal

Long Beach State’s Alexandra Massier scored with 15 seconds left in the first overtime period and the 49ers held off Hawaii 8-7 in the semifinals of the Big West water polo tournament on Saturday in Davis, Calif.

UH, the tournament’s second seed, will end its season in the third-place match against host UC Davis today at Schaal Aquatics Center.

Irene Gonzalez and Claire Nixon both scored two goals to lead UH. The Rainbow Wahine (14-12) trailed 5-4 at halftime but rallied to take a 7-6 lead in the fourth quarter on goals by Nixon and Femke Aan. Tori Morrissey scored the equalizer with 2:23 left to force overtime. Massier scored the only goal in overtime and LBSU advanced to face top-seeded UC Irvine in today’s final.

UH sailing finishes third

The Hawaii coed sailing team finished in third place at the PCCSC Coed Dinghy Championship on Friday and Saturday in Redwood, Calif.

The top-four finish gives the Rainbows a spot in next month’s ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship. It is the team’s fifth straight bid and 17th overall.

Eleven teams competed in 30 races. Host Stanford won the regatta with 66 points, while UC Santa Barbara finished in second with 88 points, edging UH’s 91 points.