SURPRISE, Ariz.-- The No. 44 UH Hilo men's tennis team faced inner-island rival No. 4 Hawai'i Pacific in the PacWest Championships semifinals at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club on Friday morning, two teams that are very familiar with each other.
The Vulcans and Sharks have played two times this season and split their matches. Hawai'i Pacific won the first appearance 6-1, but the Vulcans avenged their loss 4-2 at the UHH Tennis Courts.
The Sharks ended up taking the rubber match and the biggest bout this season between the two teams, 4-2. HPU now advances to Saturday's PacWest title match against Azusa Pacific, while the Vulcans will play a consolation bout at 9 am Pacific time against Point Loma.
The Vulcans were off to a great start, taking the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Martin Soukal and Luke Hamano set the tone with a 6-2 win on the first court and then Alessio Demichelis and Luca Matheiowetz clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on the third court.
Singles play proved to be challenging for the Vulcans. Court five suffered a 6-1, 6-3 tennis loss, but Joshua Liu evened out the playing field with a 6-1, 6-4 win on court six, giving the Vulcans a 2-1 team lead.
Demichelis dropped a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) heartbreaker to HPU's Jan Pleva on court two to tie the team score (2-2). Meanwhile Luca Checchia was off to a good start on court three taking the first set 7-5, but proceeded to drop the next two sets 6-1, 6-2.
The clinching match ended up being Luca Matheiowetz's on the fourth court. Matheiowetz took the first set 6-4, but then the PacWest Freshman of the Year (Jakub Beran) came back with the next two to clinch the Sharks' victory and advancement to the Championship game.
Sadly, the match between two of the top players in the nation and the top two ranked players in the conference wasn't able to be finished because of the clinch format. UHH's Martin Soukal and HPU's Jordi Walder was the last match remaining on court one. Soukal, who has never lost a match at the Pacwest Championships, won the first set in a tiebreaker (7-3), but Walder took a big early lead and then held on to grab the second set (6-4). Soukal was leading the third set (3-2) when the match was halted. Walders is ranked No. 2 in the latest ITA national rankings while Soukal is No. 5.
The Vulcans, now 8-9 on the season, had their seven-match winning streak snapped. The Sharks are now 16-1. There is much on the line for the Vulcans in Saturday's third-place match against the Sea Lions. UH Hilo is still in the hunt for an NCAA postseason berth, but need to have a .500 record to qualify. A victory over Point Loma puts them at 9-9 and their strong late season run puts them in the mix for committee consideration.
Pacific West Conference Semifinals
#4 Hawai'i Pacific 4, #44 Hawai'i Hilo 2
Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club, Surprise, Arizona
Singles competition
1. M Soukal (UHH) vs. Jordi Walder (HPU) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 3-2, UNF.
2. Jan Pleva (HPU) def. A Demichelis (UHH) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
3. Robin Sanz (HPU) def. L Checchia (UHH) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
4. Jakub Beran (HPU) def. L Matheiowetz (UHH) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
5. Benjamin Loccisano (HPU) def. A Gentile (UHH) 6-1, 6-3.
6. J Liu (UHH) def. Jan Heine (HPU) 6-1, 6-4.
Order of Finish: 5-6-2-3-4
Doubles competition
1. Soukal/L Hamano (UHH) def. Walder/Pleva (HPU), 6-2.
2. Beran/Sanz (HPU) def. Liu/Checchia (UHH), 6-1.
3. Demichelis/Matheiowetz (UHH) def. Heine/Loccisano (HPU), 6-3.
Order of Finish: 1-2-3
RECORDS
Hawai'i Pacific 16-1, Hawai'i Hilo 8-9
