The top-seeded Hawaii women’s tennis team beat No. 2 seed Cal Poly 4-2 to become the 2023 Big West Champion on Saturday at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
The Rainbow Wahine claimed both the Big West regular-season title and the tournament title in the same season for the first time in program history.
The Mustangs took an early lead with the doubles point. UH No. 3 duo Madison Kim and Satsuki Takamura took the first match 6-4 over Melissa LaMette and Alexandra Ozeretss, but Cal Poly fought back with tiebreaker wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 courts to claim the 1-0 lead.
Hawaii took back the lead in singles. UH No. 4 Klara Novakova beat Delanie Dunkle and No. 3 Takamura beat Peyton Dunkle by identical of 6-2, 6-2 scores. The Mustangs came back with their lone singles win, but UH No. 1 Ana Vilcek clinched the match with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over Kim Bhunu to give UH the Big West crown.
With their third conference tournament title, the Rainbow Wahine will make their third team appearance at the NCAA Championships, beginning next Friday.
UH water polo through to Big West final
The Hawaii women’s water polo team advanced to the Big West Conference Championship with a marathon 13-12 win in the semifinal round over Long Beach State on Saturday at the UCSB Campus Pool.
Lot Stertefled and Alba Bonamusa Boix led the Rainbow Wahine with four goals each, while goalkeeper Bridget Layburn made a game-winning stop in the final seconds.
Although the Wahine never trailed after the midway point of the first quarter, the outcome of the match was in question until the final horn amid Long Beach State’s relentless attack.
UH led 12-9 with just over five minutes to play, but LBSU fought back to cut the deficit to 13-12 with two minutes left. Layburn denied the Beach’s potential game-tying shot, her ninth save of the game, with less than 10 seconds on the clock to seal the win for the Rainbow Wahine.
Hawaii will take on top-seeded UC Irvine today at 9 a.m. The Anteaters reached the title bout with a 12-6 win over UC San Diego in the first semifinal on Saturday. UH and UC Irvine will clash in the tournament finale for the fifth straight year, with the two sides splitting the previous four.
UH men’s tennis team falls in semifinals
The Hawaii men’s tennis team fell 4-1 to top-seeded and N0. 39 UC Santa Barbara in the semifinal round of the Big West Championship on Saturday at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. This marks the second consecutive year that the Rainbow Warriors have been knocked out in the semifinals by the Gauchos.
UCSB claimed the doubles point with wins on courts No. 3 and 1. UH No. 2 pair Axel Labrunie and Kilian Maitre beat UCSB’s Conrad Brown and Luka Mrsic 6-4 to finish the year with a team-best 12-3 doubles record.
The Gauchos quickly pushed their lead to 3-0 with wins on singles courts N0. 3 and 6. UH No. 1 and 74th-ranked Andre Ilagan salvaged a point, preventing a sweep with a 6-3, 6-3 straight-sets win over Phillip Jordan to finish the regular season with a team-high 16-3 singles record. UCSB clinched the match with a sweep on the No. 5 court to end Hawaii’s season.
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TENNIS
BIG WEST MEN
No. 39 UC Santa Barbara 4, Hawai’i 1
Singles
1. #74 Andre Ilagan (UH) def. Phillip Jordan (UCSB) 6-4, 6-3
2. Pablo Masjuan (UCSB) vs. Axel Labrunie (UH) 6-4, 6-6, unfinished
3. Luka Mrsic (UCSB) def. Guillaume Tattevin (UH) 6-2, 6-2
4. Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB) vs. Lucas Labrunie (UH) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
5. Conrad Brown (UCSB) def. Kilian Maitre (UH) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
6. Kai Brady (UCSB) def. Andy Hernandez (UH) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Phillip Jordan/Kai Brady (UCSB) def. Andre Ilagan/Lucas Labrunie (UH) 6-3
2. Axel Labrunie/Kilian Maitre (UH) def. Conrad Brown/Luka Mrsic (UCSB) 6-4
3. Pablo Masjuan/Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB) def. Karl Collins/Vojtech Vlkovsky (UH) 6-4
BIG WEST WOMEN
Hawaii 4, Cal Poly 2
Singles
1. Vilcek, Ana (UH) def. Bhunu, Kim (CP) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
2. Homolkova, Nikola (UH) vs. LaMette, Melissa (CP) 6-2, 5-7, unfinished
3. Takamura, Satsuki (UH) def. Dunkle, Peyton (CP) 6-2, 6-2
4. Novakova, Klara (UH) def. Dunkle, Delanie (CP) 6-2, 6-2
5. Buntrock, Kennedy (CP) def. Pinto, Rita (UH) 1-6, 6-0, 6-0
6. Kim, Madison (UH) def. Ozerets, Alexandra (CP) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
1. Dunkle, Peyton/Dunkle, Delanie (CP) def. Novakova, Klara/Pinto, Rita (UH) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Bhunu, Kim/Buntrock, Kennedy (CP) def. Homolkova, Nikola/Vilcek, Ana (UH) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Kim, Madison/Takamura, Satsuki (UH) def. LaMette, Melissa/Ozerets, Alexandra (CP) 6-4
WATER POLO
BIG WEST CONFERENCE
Hawaii 13, Long Beach State 12
Goal Scorers—UH: Alba Bonamusa Boix 4, Emma van Rossum 2, Lot Stertefeld 4, Bia Mantellato Dias 2, Olivia Kistler. LBSU: Jamie Oberman, Martina Cardona 2, Elisa Portillo, Lara Luka 2, Gabriella Matafora-Adams 2, Rachael Kowalchick 3, Mariah Walker.
