KOHALA COAST, Hawai`i—In the rubber match of any series, home court advantage can play a huge factor.

Count that to be true on a hot Sunday morning at the Fairmont Orchid on the west side of the Big Island when host Hawai`i Hilo defeated Azusa Pacific, 5-1 in the Preliminary Round of the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships.

With the West Region victory, the Vulcans advance to the round of 16 in Altamonte Springs, Florida, May 21-25. They are now 13-4 on the year, while APU's successful season ends at 23-4.

It was the third match of the year between the Pacific West Conference teams. APU won the first (4-3) in Azusa. The Vulcans won the second (4-1) at the PacWest tournament. Today's rubber match, was closer than the score would indicate, and was a battle on every court in 86-degree (and humid) weather.

The Cougars struck first, taking two doubles matches to claim the team point. The Vulcans actually won the first match on court one, but APU won on courts two and three, both in tiebreakers.

Trailing 1-0 heading into singles, the Vulcans reversed the momentum by winning the first set on three courts. The Cougars countered by winning the first set on the next three courts, adding to the tension.

The Vulcans got the first team point back when Alessandro Giuliato remained unbeaten on the year with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ryan Nuno. Martin Soukal claimed the next Vulcan point with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ronald Kang. The PacWest Freshman of the year improved to 14-1 on the year, while Giuliato is now 13-0.

Up 2-1, Arturo Dell`Eva added to the pressure on the Cougars with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jesse Haas to give UHH a 3-1 lead, leaving just one victory needed. But in the other three matches, the Cougars had won the first set.

The Vulcans began to battle back in the heat. Vaclav Slezak, Luca Checchia and Chun En Wu rallied to win their second set as the heat began to take its toll. On court four, APU's Leyton Bohren began to cramp and tried to continue while Wu took the second set. On court six, Checchia rallied back to take the second set after dropping the first..

30 minutes later, Checchia took down Marnix Pluim in the third set, after the Cougar fought off four match points, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. At almost the exact same time, Wu focused through the distractions to win over the wounded and game Bohren, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. The only shame was that the match on center court between two of the top players in the west, Slezak and Jakob Schnaitter, ended unfinished at 5-7, 6-2, 2-1 with Slezak up a break in the third.

"It was a tough match, like we knew it would be," said interim head coach Kallen Mizuguchi. "We needed a big effort from every single player, and we got it."

The Vulcans will heal up and get back to practice this week before heading to Florida over the weekend. It is the second consecutive year that UH Hilo has advanced to the sweet 16. Last season, they defeated Point Loma in the preliminary round and dropped a tight match to Indianapolis at the national tournament site in Arizona.

#15 Hawai`i Hilo 5, #21 Azusa Pacific 1
Singles competition
1. #15 Vaclav Slezak (UHH) vs. #20 Jakob Schnaitter (APU), 5-7, 6-2, 2-1 (40-15), UNF
2. #26 Alessandro Giuliato (UHH) def. Ryan Nuno (APU), 6-1, 6-1.
3. #47 Martin Soukal (UHH) def. Ronald Kang (AP), 6-3, 6-4.
4. Chun En Wu (UHH) def. Leyton Bohren (AP), 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
5. Arturo Dell`Eva (UHH) def. Jesse Haas (APU), 6-4, 6-1.
6. Luca Checchia (UHH) def. Marnix Pluim (AP), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Singles order of finish: 2-3-5-6-4

Doubles competition
1. Slezak/Soukal (UHH) def. Schnaitter/Haas (APU), 6-4
2. Nuno/Bohren (APU) def. Giuliato/En Wu (UHH), 7-6 (7-3). 
3. Kang/Ethan Smith (APU) def. Checchia,/Alan Cincunegui (UHH), 7-6 (7-3)     
Doubles order of finish: 1-3-2

Records: Hawai'i Hilo 13-4, Azusa Pacific 23-4.