For the first time in program history Wednesday, Hawaii Hilo advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II men’s tennis championships in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
The Vulcans defeated South Carolina Aiken 4-0. After UHH split the first two doubles matches, the duo of Chun En Wu and Alessandro Giuliato defeated the Pacers’ team of Vicente Andrade and Tales Silva 7-5 to claim the doubles point. The Vulcans then ran off three straight wins in singles play, with Luca Checchia, Vaclav Slezak and Arturo Dell’Eva each winning to clinch the victory.
Hilo advances to face top seed Barry.
>> On the other side of the bracket, Hawaii Pacific knocked out Southwest Baptist 4-2 in a 3-hour, 18-minute marathon.
The Sharks claimed the first point in doubles play, after Valentin Masse and Maxime Gayte won in a tiebreaker to claim the second victory. HPU then quickly claimed two singles matches, as Cheng-Chieh Wang and Gayte won to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead. Southwest Baptist rallied back, winning the next two matches. But HPU’s Ondrej Ctverak knocked out Raul Caballero to clinch the match for the Sharks.
HPU advances to the semifinals for the eighth time in school history. The last time was in 2016, when the Sharks won the national championship.
HPU women’s tennis on to quarterfinals
Hawaii Pacific defeated St. Edward’s 4-0 in the round of 16 of the NCAA Division II women’s tennis championships in Altamonte Springs, Fla., on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded Sharks won or led in each of the singles matches, and dropped just a single doubles match. They advance to face fourth seed Columbus State.
Chaminade signs 6-2 center
Chaminade women’s basketball coach Arthur King announced the signing of Kayley Elliott to a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday.
Elliott, a 6-2 center from Springfield, Ore., averaged 14 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the field as a senior at Springfield High School.
She is the first signing of the 2019 class.
Vulcans rank sixth in Commissioner’s Cup
The Hawaii Hilo finished sixth in the 2018-19 PacWest Commissioner’s Cup out of 12 teams, the Vulcans’ best finish since they were third in 2008-09. Hawaii Pacific placed seventh and Chaminade 11th.
Four Vulcan teams finished in second place in the PacWest: women’s soccer, men’s tennis, softball and baseball. The volleyball squad tied for third and the men’s golf team finished fourth.
The Commissioner’s Cup is based on the best overall performances of all the teams in that academic year. The competition is based upon average finish in sports that the PacWest offers. Each school’s points are totaled and then divided by the number of PacWest athletic programs it offers, giving an overall average finish for the school.
The Vulcans finished with a total of 99 points for an 8.25 average. Azusa Pacific was the Cup winner (12.96), followed by Point Loma (11.36) and Concordia (9.81). HPU averaged 8.15 and Chaminade 4.85.
