The UH Hilo Men's Tennis Season in Review is a part of a series of wrap-ups for the Vulcans' 12 teams that all played in the spring during this bizarre 2021 COVID sports year. Over the next month, we will take a look back at the UH Hilo seasons, that despite being played in a pandemic, were highly successful on many fronts. 

FINAL RECORD: 11-3
Post Season: Won PacWest Tournament (3-0), Won D-II West Region (2-0), Third Place NCAA's (1-1)

The 2021 UH Hilo men's tennis team saw its 2020 season come to a close way early and they weren't able to practice together the following Fall because of the pandemic. Additionally, the normal hurdles that go with living on an island far, far away from the nearest opponent left them short of the desired number of matches to prepare for the season.

Nonetheless, the Vulcans, under third-year coach Kallen Mizuguchi, accomplished more than any other previous UH Hilo team. The Vulcans won the Pacific West Championships, the NCAA Division II West Regional, and then won a match at the NCAA Championships before falling to No. 1 seed Columbus State to end the year 11-3. Here is a look back at their incrediable season.

SLOW START?: The Vulcans started out 2-2, splitting with rival Hawaii Pacific, defeating Biola and then endured a disappointing 4-3 loss to Azusa Pacific on the road.

SIZZLING FINISH: From there, the Vulcans went on a run. They won nine in a row, which included seven victories over nationally ranked teams. That run included three victories over the Sharks and a triumph over Azusa Pacific in the final of the PacWest tournament. 

VULCANS IN THE CLUTCH, PART ONE: In UH Hilo's two title matches, the Vulcans went the distance with the championship coming down to the final match. Against the Cougars in the PacWest final, Luca Checchia dropped the first set but won the final two by 7-5 scores with everyone watching to clinch the Vulcans first conference title in any sport since 2014. Additionally, Martin Soukal topped the PacWest Player of the Year Jakob Schnaitter, and Alessio Demichelis defeated the PacWest Newcomer of the Year Sam Sippel. Both Vulcans had lost to those Cougars the first time that they met.

KALLEN'S COMMENTS (as told to the PWC's Jared Pine): "I'm at a loss for words," head coach Kallen Mizuguchi said after leading his squad to the PacWest Championship in just his third year as head coach. "We got through three tough schools. All three of the matches could have gone either way. Honestly, we fought hard against a strong Azusa team. It is a great great feeling to finally win, and I guess third time is the charm. It was a great atmosphere and coaches coach for these moments. When the score is 3-3 and it's the match to clinch, it's the biggest thing. Coaches coach for that and players play for that. That was a very insane match. We met with Martin to go over certain things, and one of the keys was to make sure that he was swinging away. We wanted to go into the match confident, not tight, with no pressure on him. It's tough for Jakob. He's such a great player and it is tough to be so dominant throughout his whole career. I told Martin that this would be a great time to capitalize on that, because it is so hard to stay on top for such a long time. I think Martin being the underdog allowed him to swing away capitalize on every opportunity he could get, because you don't get many against Jakob.Yesterday, we pulled Alessio out because he had been hurting and wasn't moving well, so he had to fight mentally through the pain. He needed to scramble every point and dig deep, and that's what he did. Sam is a great player, so that was a great win and we needed it today. Josh (Liu) has been a key factor on our team. He's undefeated in singles this year, and for us to get him from our other rival Sonoma State, it has been great to have him. Luca is the player for this type of match. He's best suited for these situations, and has been in that role for us before in regionals two years ago, earlier that year against Azusa at the PacWest semifinals as well. So having him there, I believe in him, and I know he believes in himself. He had everyone around him that whole third set, and I think this win shows how hard he fights for his team. Our program has gotten a lot stronger over the years, and our conference has gotten a lot stronger. When I was a player, this was the dream, and now as a coach, winning conference was my dream. Today it came true."

VULCANS IN THE CLUTCH, PART TWO: In the NCAA West Region title match against Hawaii Pacific, the Vulcans saved two match points, this time by Alessio Demichelis at No. 2 singles. The Vulcans trailed 3-2 before getting comeback wins from Demichelis and Luca Checchia. Checchia again won 7-5 in the third, while Dimichelis won a third set tiebreaker, 7-2. 

MAKING A NAME FOR THE VULCANS: For the third straight season the Vulcans qualified for the NCAA Championships. For the second consecutive year, they won a quarterfinal match (this time, Concordia NY) to before falling to the No. 1 seed (this time, Columbus State). They put them in a tie for third place.

FINAL RANKING: UH HIlo was listed fourth in the final Oracle/ITA National D-II rankings, their highest in school history. Martin Soukal was listed tenth in singles nationally and second in the region. Additionally, Soukal earned All-American and All-Region honors, and was tabbed as the UH Hilo Male Athlete of the Year. Freshman Alessio DeMichelis ranked fourth in the west region, Chun En Wu is 16th and Luca Checchia is 18th. In doubles, Soukal and Santiago Di Loreto finished ranked second and Checchia and Joshua Liu were eighth.

LUCA AND LEARNING: For the second year in a row, Luca Checchia earned Academic All-Region honors (CoSIDA). Checchia carries a 3.87 grade point average in his major of Business Administration. 

SENIOR SALUTE: The Vulcans graduated just two seniors off this title winning team, Chun En Wu and Santiago Di Loreto. Di Loreto played 1.5 seasons after transferring from South Alabama finishing with a career singles mark of 6-5 and a doubles record of 10-6. En Wu spent four seasons with the Vulcans, going an outstanding 37-13 in doubles and 25-18 in singles.