KAILUA, Hawai'i – No. 44 Hawai'i Hilo Men's Tennis split two matches against HPU on O'ahu at the Kailua Racquet Club.
The Vulcans were victorious, 4-2, grabbing all four points in singles play to snap a nine-match skid to the Sharks — now coached by former Hawai'i Hilo player ('04-'07) and coach ('09-'10) Daniel Pollock with assistance from former Vulcan Martin Soukal ('19-'22). HPU took the rematch, 5-2, on Friday evening.
No. 53 Jaime Paquet (Court 1) and Iori Furuhata (Court 6) earned singles victories in both contests with the latter clinching the match victory in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win on Thursday.
No. 44 Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 7-8 record as HPU moved to 6-6 overall.
The two teams, featured in "LG Presents: The Rivalries" dubbed "The Aloha Rivalry" filmed last season and released in the fall, will meet again for two more matches this weekend on the Big Island to wrap up regular-season play. Seniors Yu Jhe Du, Agustin Gentile and Coby Pearce will be honored following Sunday's regular-season finale.
UP NEXT: Saturday, April 5 (10 AM) vs HPU (Hilo, Hawai'i / UHH Tennis Courts)
MARCH 27 – SINGLES WINS vs HPU
1. [UHH] #53 J. Paquet def. [HPU] M. Matic – 6-4, 6-2
4. [UHH] S. Tintore def. [HPU] Y. Heitzeberg – 6-4, 6-2
5. [UHH] Y. Du def. [HPU] J. Karlstad – 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. [UHH] I. Furuhata def. [HPU] A. Pery – 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
MARCH 28 – SINGLES WINS vs HPU
1. [UHH] #53 J. Paquet def. [HPU] J. Beran – 6-3, 7-5
6. [UHH] I. Furuhata def. [HPU] J. Karlstad – 0-6, 6-1, 6-2
PACWEST RANKINGS: In the first Pacific West Conference season rankings released Wednesday, Hawai'i Hilo was slotted at No. 8 among the 12 teams competing for the eight spots at the PacWest Championships held April 16-19 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Club in Arizona. One more iteration of rankings will be released next week before the final selections are unveiled on April 7. The rankings are voted on by a committee of eight administrations from PacWest schools with the top two criteria (from a list of seven) listed as head-to-head results and records against common Division-II opponents.
FOUR FOUR: Hawai'i Hilo re-entered the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II Collegiate Rankings at No. 44 in the latest poll released Wednesday. The Vulcans first appeared at No. 45 in the Poll No. 5 rankings released March 14.
AMONG THE BEST: Jaime Paquet earned a No. 53 singles ranking among 75 listed Division-II student-athletes. Paquet was named back-to-back PacWest Conference Player of the Week earlier this month and currently holds a 13-2 record on an 11-match win streak.
