WACO, Tex.—No. 12 nationally ranked St. Edward's and the rain were equal part foes on Sunday for the UH Hilo men's tennis team at the Waco Regional Tennis Center.
The No. 15 Vulcans were up 3-2 with two matches still unfinished with the rains came and cancelled the rest of the play. The match will not count in the team category, but individual results will.
UHH's
Martin Soukal defeated the No. 4 ranked player in Division II, Anish Sriniketh, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. That comes two days after the 6-foot-5 sophomore defeated the No. 9 player in the country, Manuel Pilotto of Southeastern Oklahoma State.
The Vulcans also got a win at No. 6 singles where
Alan Cincunegui topped Luis Diaz, 6-2, 6-3. Earlier, the Vulcans had secured the doubles team point with wins on courts two and three. On two, Arturo Dell`Eva and
Luca Checchia teamed to top the No. 4 doubles team in the country, Abhi Ramireddy and Jesse Wikso, 6-3. Cincunegui and
Chun En Wu won on court three by the same score. On court one, Soukal and
Santiago Di Loreto were left unfinished with a 6-5 lead.
The Hilltoppers got wins in singles on courts two and three in straight sets, but the other two matches were in the third set when rain showed up. Di Loreto had split sets and was on serve in the third set, while Checchia had just won the second set in a tiebreaker to even the sets at 1-1.
Next action for the Vulcans will be on March 12 and 13 on Oahu. On the 12
th, they will play Washington University (Mo.), the No. 9 ranked team in Division III, and on the 13
th they get a rematch with No. 8 (DII) Hawai`i Pacific. Both matches will be played at Ala Moana Park.
#15 UH Hilo 3, #12 St. Edward's TX 2 (Unfinished, no team score)
Singles competition
1. #41
Martin Soukal (UHH) def. #4 Anish Sriniketh (SEU), 7-6, 7-4), 6-3.
2. #24 Chase Barlett (SEU) def.
Chun En Wu (UHH), 6-1, 6-4.
3. Jesse Wikso (SEU) def. Arturo Dell`Eva (UHH), 6-3, 6-2.
4.
Luca Checchia (UHH) vs. Gabriel Zuniga (SEU), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), UNF.
5.
Santiago Di Loreto (UHH) vs. Abhi Ramireddy (SEU), 6-4, 5-7, 3-4, UNF
6.
Alan Cincunegui (UHH) def. Luis Diaz (SEU), 6-2, 6-3.
Singles order of finish: 6-2-3-1-UNF-UNF
Doubles competition
1. Soukal/En Wu (UHH) vs. Bartlett/Sriniketh (SEU), 6-5, UNF
2. Dell`Eva/Checchia (UHH) def. Ramireddy/Wikso (SEU), 6-3.
3. En Wu/Cincunegui (UHH) def. Diaz/Zac Robinson (SEU), 6-3
Doubles order of finish: 2-3-1
Records: #15 Hawai'i Hilo 1-3, #12 St. Edward's TX 6-1
