WAIKOLOA, Hawai`i—The margin was razor thin in doubles and ended up being just as thin overall as visiting UC San Diego rallied for a 4-3 victory over UH Hilo in men's tennis on Friday morning at the Mauna Lani Sports and Fitness Club.

It was the season opener for the Vulcans (0-1), while the Tritons improved to 4-1 on the year. The Tritons have wins thus far over Point Loma, No. 7 Azusa Pacific, Biola and a loss to Concordia.

UCSD won two of the three doubles matches for the one team point, claiming the rubber match in a tiebreaker. After UH Hilo won the top three matches on the singles ladder in quick fashion to take a 3-1 team lead, the Tritons rallied back by winning on courts 4-5-6 to claim the match.

In single-set doubles action. UHH's No. 3 team of Arturo Dell`Eva and Alan Cincunegui won 6-2, but UCSD countered with a 7-5 win on court one. Sreeganesh Manoharan and Phillip Lan broke Martin Soukal and Chun En Wu at 6-5 to even the team score.

On court two, UHH's Santiago Di Loreto and Luca Checchia were locked up with UCSD's with Neil Tenbumroong and Cody Duong. The two teams traded games right into the tiebreaker, which the Tritons won, 7-6 (7-2).

Singles was next with the Vulcans quickly building a 3-1 lead. Soukal defeated Sahm Irvine on court one (6-2, 6-2), En Wu topped Marc Isaia on court two (6-1, 6-0) and Dell`Eva won out over Tenbumroong at No. 3 (6-2, 6-2).

Lan picked up his second win of the day on court four over Checchia (6-4, 6-4) and Duong did the same on court six versus Cincunegui (6-3, 6-4). That left court four to be finished, where after a tight first set, Di Lorreto began to fall victim to cramps and Monoharan, eventually falling 7-5, 6-0.

UH Hilo will get back into action on Sunday (10:30 am) against Hawaii Pacific, while the Tritons will play the Sharks on Saturday at 1 pm. Both matches will be played at the Mani Lani.
 
UC San Diego 4, #10 UH Hilo 3
Singles competition
1. Martin Soukal (UHH) def. Sahm Irvine (UCSD), 6-2, 6-3.
2. Chun En Wu (UHH) def. Marc Isaia (UCSD), 6-1, 6-0.
3. Arturo Dell`Eva (UHH) def. Neil Tenbumroong (UCSD), 6-2, 6-2..
4. Phillip Lan (UCSD) def. Luca Checchia (UHH), 6-4, 6-4.
5. Sreeganesh Manoharan def. Santiago Di Loreto (UHH), 7-5, 6-0.
6. Cody Duong (UCSD) def. Alan Cincunegui (UHH), 6-3, 6-4.

Singles order of finish: 2-3-1-4-6-5

Doubles competition
1. Lan/Manoharan (UCSD) def. Soukal/En Wu (UHH), 7-5
2. Duong/Tenbumroong (UCSD) def. Checchia/Di Loreto (UHH), 7-6 (7-2)
3. Dell `Eva/Cincunegui (UHH) def. Isaia/Marius Ruh (UCSD), 6-2.    

Doubles order of finish: 3-1-2

Records: Hawai'i Hilo 0-1, UC San Diego 4-1