KOHALA COAST, Hawai`i--It's just one match, but revenge still felt pretty good 11 months later. 

The No. 20 ranked Hawai`i Hilo men's tennis team topped No. 5 Hawai`i Pacific, 5-2 in the first of two matches between the Vulcans and Sharks on Sunday at the Fairmont Orchid Resort Tennis Center. The last time these two teams played in 2020, it was the Sharks claiming a 5-2 win just a few miles down the road at the Mauna Lani Tennis Courts. Today, the Vulcans claimed the doubles point with a court 3 tiebreaker win, and then claimed singles wins on courts 1-2-3-4.

Now, in a few moments, the two squads will square off again with HPU having the shot at redemption.

It was the official season opener for both teams.

The day began with tight doubles matches. Martin Soukal and Alessio Demichelis won on court one for the Vulcans 6-3, while Benjamin Loccisano and Ryohei Arai did the same for the Sharks at second doubles. That left the team point to be decided on court three. HPU's Cheng-Chieh Wang and Kilian Maitre had a 5-3 lead on Chun En Wu and Joshua Liu, one game away from the win. But the Vulcan duo battled back to a tiebreaker, where they won in extra time, 7-6 (8-6).

In singles play, individual revenge was capture by Soukal, who last year lost to Loccisano. In a battle of the 2020 #3 ranked player in the west (Loccisano) versus #4 (Soukal), the match went to the 6-foot-5 Hilo player from the Czech Republic. Soukal took down the Shark from Germany, 6-4, 6-1. 

Vulcan freshman Demichelis won on court two (6-4, 6-3), Luca Checchia captured court three (6-3, 6-4) and En Wu won on court four (7-6 (7-2), 6-2, giving the senior his second tiebreaker victory of the day. HPU won the final two matches on courts five and six.

The two teams are scheduled to be playing again at 3 pm on an 81-degree day on the Kona side of the Big Island.

#20 UH Hilo 5, #5 Hawai`i Pacific 2
Fairmont Orchid Resort Tennis Center, Kohala Coast, Hawai`i
Singles competition
1. Martin Soukal (UHH) def. Benjamin Loccisano (HPU), 6-4, 6-1.
2. Alessio Demichelis (UHH) def. Matej Panik (HPU), 6-4, 6-3.
3. Luca Checchia (UHH) def. Kilian Maitre (HPU), 6-3, 6-4.
4. Chun En Wu (UHH) def. Ryohei Arai (HPU), 7-6, (7-2), 6-2. 
5. Felix Einig (HPU) def. Joshua Liu (UHH), 6-4, 6-2.
6. James Hartson (HPU) def. Santiago Di Loreto (UHH), 6-2, 7-5.
Singles order of finish: 1-3-2-4-5-6

Doubles competition
1. Soukal/Demichelis (UHH) def. Hartson/Panik (HPU), 6-3. 
2. Loccisano/Arai (HPU) def. Checchia/Di Loreto (UHH), 6-4.
3. En Wu/Liu (UHH) def. Maitre/Cheng-Chieh Wang (HPU), 7-6 (8-6).
Doubles order of finish: 1-2-3
Records: Hawai'i Hilo 1-0, Hawaii Pacific 0-1