SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – The No. 45 Hawai'i Hilo Men's Tennis team finished its week-long slate of matches at 1-2 with narrow losses to Concordia University Irvine and Point Loma sandwiched around a 4-0 blanking of Westmont.

The Vulcans finish the spring-break gauntlet of matches at 2-4 as Ryo Minakata (4-1), Luca Matheiowetz (4-2) and Cian McDonnell (4-2) each notched four wins during the week.

In both losses to CUI and PLNU, the Vulcans had to take the long route of needing to claim four wins in the singles round. The Golden Eagles claimed the win with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on Court 6 while the battle with the Sea Lions came down to the final match on Court 4 in a tough 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 defeat.

With under a month to go until the Pacific West Conference Championship in Surprise, Arizona, Hawai'i Hilo sits right in the middle of the pack at an even .500 record. The first conference rankings list will be released this Wednesday.

SINGLES WINS vs CUI

1. [UHH] R. Minakata def. [CUI] M. Le Montagner – (6-3, 7-5, 7-6)
2. [UHH] C. McDonnell def. [CUI] M. Aleksix – (6-2, 6-1)
5. [UHH] L. Matheiowetz def. [CUI] A. Kartzinel – (6-1, 6-1)

DOUBLES WINS vs CUI

1. [UHH] R. Minakata + C. Pearce def. [CUI] M. Renz + M. Le Montagner – (6-4)

SINGLES WINS vs WESTMONT

1. [UHH] R. Minakata def. [WC] A. Stone – (6-3, 6-1)
2. [UHH] C. McDonnell def. [WC] L. Thompson – (6-4, 5-7, 6-0)
3. [UHH] L. Bartley def. [WC] E. Ha – (6-3, 6-2)

DOUBLES WINS vs WESTMONT

2. [UHH] F. Di Perna + C. Pearce def. [WC] L. Thompson + O. Vander Ark – (6-4)
3. [UHH] C. McDonnell + L. Matheiowetz def. [WC] G. Adiv + M. Hopkins – (6-2)

SINGLES WINS vs POINT LOMA

1. [UHH] R. Minakata def. [PLNU] B. Lau – (6-2, 4-1 – Retirement)
2. [UHH] C. McDonnell def. [PLNU] D. Strassburger – (7-6, 6-4)
5. [UHH] L. Matheiowetz def. [PLNU] L. Schuster – (6-4, 6-3)

UP NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo moved to 6-6 overall while Concordia University Irvine moved to 10-6, Westmont to 3-10 and Point Loma to 8-5.

The Vulcans return to the Big Island for their final matches of the regular season, taking on HPU April 6-7 at the UHH Tennis Courts.

Pacific West Conference Championship is set for April 17-20 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Arizona.