AZUSA, Calif.—There were so many firsts for the Hawai`i Hilo men's tennis program on Tuesday, you almost needed more than one hand to count them all.

The Vulcans defeated unbeaten Azusa Pacific 7-2, their seventh win over a ranked opponent this year, and first over the Cougars in program history. The Cougs, who were 17-0 coming into the match and ranked as high as fifth in the country this year, fell to 17-1.

The Vulcans moved to 12-1 on the year. UH Hilo comes into the week ranked fifth in the ITA NCAA Division II national poll, while Azusa Pacific is No. 14. A new ranking will come out on Wednesday.

UH Hilo freshman Alessandro Giuliato had a hand in delivering two more firsts—the first doubles loss of the year for the No. 1 ranked team in the country (APU's Oliver Frank/Christian Schmid), and the first loss in singles play for Schmid, who was 12-0.

The Vulcans swept the doubles action, the first time that had happened to APU this season, but it was by the smallest of margins.
It's unfortunate that all three doubles matches had to be played at the same time, as each held its own drama and fabulous shots on both sides of the net, making for terrific entertainment. All three matches ended within five minutes of each other.

The match on court three ended first, where the No. 31 ranked Vulcan squad of Gregory Zukeran and Chun En Wu improved to 10-1 on the year with an 8-5 win over Jesse Haas and Ryan Nuno. That match was tied at 5-5, but the UHH tandem took the final three games to win the match. Ditto for court two, where Bruno Figlia and Alex Fillat Perez closed out an 8-6 win over the Cougars' Tony Pejic and Jakob Schnaitter, giving that APU team their first loss of the season.

The biggest upset may have happened on court one, where Vaclav Slezak and Giuliato handed the No. 1 ranked team in the nation their second loss of the season. The Vulcan duo clipped Frank and Schmid in a tie-breaker, 8-7 (7-4), scoring the final four points of the match.

In singles play, unbeaten and No. 3 nationally ranked Frank rolled past Slezak, 6-1, 6-2. Frank, who has only lost once to a Division II player in the past two years, is a three-time west region singles champion. It was only the second loss of the season for Slezak in singles play.

In another match-up of nationally ranked players, Giuliato handed Schmid his first loss of the season (12-1), as No. 36 defeated No. 21 by the score of 6-0, 6-3. It capped a crazy successful day for the freshman left-hander, who had a hand in beating the No. 1 doubles team in the country and then Schmid, who finished second in the fall west region singles championship to teammate Frank.

Wu fell to No. 31 Schnaitter on court three (6-1, 6-3), leaving Fillat Perez to clinch the victory on court four (No. 5 and 6 courts had not begun play yet). The senior won the first set easily (6-3) to Ronald Kang, but the Cougar bounced back to roll Perez in the second set, 6-0. Perez then raced out to a 5-0 lead in the third set before settling for the 6-1 clincher, giving the Vulcans the team victory.

When court space cleared, Zukeran improved to 8-2 on the year in singles play with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alan Leahy, and Arturo Dell'Eva won a marathon battle on court five with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-8 win over Nuno.

"I know that I sound like a broken record, but even though our hard work is paying off, we still have a long ways to go," said Vulcan head coach Tina McDermott. "It was a fantastic win, so many positive aspects to it, but there is still a lot of tennis to be played yet this year."

UH Hilo won't have too much time to enjoy the win as they travel to San Diego on Wednesday to take on UC San Diego, the No. 43 ranked team. They will then wrap up this road trip at Point Loma on Friday.
 
#5 Hawai`i Hilo 7, #14 Azusa Pacific 2
Tuesday, March 27, 2018, Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex

Singles

1. #3 Oliver Frank (AP) def. #24 Vaclav Slezak (UHH), 6-1, 6-2.
2. #36 Alessandro Giuliato (UHH) def. #21 Christian Schmid (AP), 6-0, 6-3.
3. #31 Jakob Schnaitter (AP) def. #65 Chun En Wu (UHH), 6-1, 6-3.
4. Alex Fillat Perez (UHH) def. Ronald Kang (AP), 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.
5. #51 Arturo Dell'eva (UHH) def. Ryan Nuno (AP), 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.
6. Gregory Zukeran (UHH) def. Alan Leahy (AP), 6-4 6-2.

Doubles

1. #18 Slezak\Giuliato (UHH) def. #1 Frank/Schmid (AP), 8-7 (7-4)
2. Fillat Perez\Bruno Figlia (UHH) def. Schnaitter/Pejic (AP), 8-6
3. #31 Zukeran\Wu (UHH) def. Jesse Haas/Nuno (AP), 8-5.

 
Season Records: UH Hilo 12-1, Azusa Pacific 17-1