SAN DIEGO, Calif.--The UH Hilo men's team dropped the doubles point but roared back by taking the top four singles matches to defeat Point Loma on Friday afternoon at the PLNU Tennis Court.
The Vulcans wrapped up the southern California portion of their trip with a victory to improve to 3-8 on the season. The Sea Lions are now 8-7.
Point Loma struck first by winning doubles matches on courts two and three, while the Vulcans were leading on court one with Martin Soukal and Alessio Demichelis (5-3) when play was halted.
UH Hilo tied the match on court four when Luca Matheiowetz made quick work of Nabeel Khan, 6-1, 6-1. Matheiowetz is now 7-2 on the season playing at the numbers four and five spots.
No. 11 nationally ranked Soukal then dispatched of No. 32 Tyler Davis, 6-3, 6-4 to give the Vulcans a 2-1 team lead. Soukal is now 8-2 on the season on court number one.
UH Hilo then took the lead for good when Luca Checchia topped Khan (7-5, 6-3), and Demichelis followed by outlasting Alexander Leischner on court two, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. With the victory already secured for UHH, the Sea Lions added their third point when Alejandro Castaneda won a long battle against Joshua Liu, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5).
The Vulcans have added three more matches to their schedule, meaning that they will travel to Fresno for matches next week. They will take on Holy Names twice on Monday and Colorado Mesa on Tuesday. All three matches will be played on the Fresno Pacific courts.
UH Hilo 4, Point Loma 3
PLNU Tennis Courts, San Diego, Calif.
Singles competition
1. #11 M Soukal (UHH) def. #32 T Davis (PL), 6-3, 6-4.
2. A Demichelis (UHH) def. A Leischner (PL), 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
3. L Checchia (UHH) def. D Strassburger (PL), 7-5, 6-3.
4. L Matheiowetz (UHH) def. N Khan (PL), 6-1, 6-1.
5. A Castaneda (PL) def. J Liu (UHH), 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5).
6. J Paintal (PL) def. L Hamano (UHH), 6-3, 6-3.
Singles order of finish: 4-6-1-3-2-5
Doubles competition
1. Soukal/Demichelis (UHH) vs. Davis/Khan (PL), 5-3, UNF.
2. Paintal/Strassburger (PL) def. Liu/Matheiowetz (UHH), 6-1.
3. Castaneda/Leischner (PL) def. Checchia/Hamano (UHH), 6-3.
Doubles order of finish: 2-3
Records: UH Hilo 3-8, Point Loma 8-7
