O'AHU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Tennis took wins over Academy of Art and Chaminade as part of three matches played on O'ahu to wrap up a crazy month of March. The Vulcans were victorious over ART U, 4-3, and Chaminade, 7-0, while also falling to HPU, 7-0.
Academy of Art, the defending Pacific West Conference Champions and preseason coaches poll favorite, was a bit short handed with available players, but the Vulcans made do with the cards that were dealt. McKenna Mountain and Akari Ichikawa squeezed out a 7-5 tiebreaker for a 7-6 win on doubles Court 2 to claim the opening doubles point. With just four opposing players, the Vulcans went up 3-0 with two singles defaults as Ichikawa provided the deciding point on a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Court 3.
Hawai'i Hilo was shut out by HPU before coming back the next day to blank the Silverswords.
Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 6-9 record as Academy of Art moved to 4-7 overall, HPU to 6-10 and Chaminade to 0-11.
The Vulcans will close regular-season play on the Big Island taking on Chaminade on Wednesday before playing two matches against HPU next weekend. Seniors Ichikawa, Mountain and Cami Oyama will be honored on Sunday.
UP NEXT: Wednesday, April 2 (2 PM) vs Chaminade (Hilo, Hawai'i / UHH Tennis Courts)
MARCH 27 – SINGLES WINS vs ACADEMY OF ART
3. [UHH] A. Ichikawa def. [ART U] S. Georgieva – 6-2, 6-2
5. [UHH] L. Jordan win by default
6. [UHH] C. Oyama win by default
MARCH 27 – DOUBLES WINS vs ACADEMY OF ART
2. [UHH] M. Mountain + A. Ichikawa def. [ART U] S. Georgeieva + G. Parr – 7-6 (7-5)
3. [UHH] L. Jordan + C. Oyama win by default
MARCH 29 – SINGLES WINS vs CHAMINADE
1. [UHH] #41 M. Mountain def. [CUH] K. Ye – 6-1, 6-1
2. [UHH] M. Srebro def. [CUH] K. Carvalho – 6-0, 6-0
3. [UHH] A. Ichikawa def. [CUH] I. Minaudo – 6-0, 6-1
4. [UHH] M. Cordonnier def. [CUH] S. Buttery – 6-2, 6-0
5. [UHH] L. Jordan def. [CUH] D. Palmer – 6-0, 6-0
6. [UHH] C. Oyama win by default
MARCH 29 – DOUBLES WINS vs CHAMINADE
1. [UHH] #42 M. Srebro + M. Cordonnier def. [CUH] K. Ye + K. Carvalho – 6-0
2. [UHH] M. Mountain + A. Ichikawa def. [CUH] I. Minaudo + S. Buttery – 6-0
3. [UHH] L. Jordan + C. Oyama win by default
PACWEST RANKINGS: In the first Pacific West Conference season rankings released Wednesday, Hawai'i Hilo was slotted at No. 11 among the 17 teams competing for 12 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.
AMONG THE BEST: McKenna Mountain earned a No. 41 singles ranking among 75 listed Division-II student-athletes in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Collegiate Rankings poll. The doubles team of Marie Cordonnier and Mila Srebro were ranked No. 42.
