The University of Hawaii men’s tennis team got a second chance at their cross-town rival and the No. 1 team in Division II tennis, but were unable to defeat Hawai‘i Pacific, falling to an overall 2-5 record this season.

The Sea Warriors got off to a quick 1-0 lead as they swept all three doubles positions led by Mikael Maatta and Jan Tribler as they inched pass Hawai‘i’s Lincoln Leeder and Malino Oda, 9-8. The duo of Jorge Gonzalez and Kai Ohuchi got their first taste of defeat in doubles competition falling to Stafan Pampulov and Blaz Jurjec in the No. 3 position, 8-5. Warriors Justin Menolascino and Reginaldo Moralejo did one better than Gonzalez and Ohuchi, but it was not enough to beat Karl Sloss and Miguel Diez, 8-5.

In singles play the Warriors came back with an attack as Gonzalez defeated S. Pampulov in two straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The score remained in a tie as HPU’s Maatta defeated Moralejo, 6-4, 6-3 and Malino Oda made a come back to overpowered Tribler in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

With the score tied at two, Hawai‘i looked to take the lead taking the last three matches into deciding third games. Hawai‘i would fall short as Francisco Brignole came up scoreless in the third to Matey Pampulov, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.

After defeating HPU’s Karl Sloss 5-7 in the first set, Leeder would lose two straight, 6-2, 6-2. Menolascino would take his match to an exhausting three hours but failed to convert to HPU’s Jurjec, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Both teams met earlier this season in the annual City Intercollegiate Tournament at the UH Tennis Complex Nov. 30. The Warriors pushed the Division II No. 1 ranked team to the limit but lost 3-2.

Over the past five years, the rivals have been caught in a championship tug-of-war as the tournament title switched hands between the schools. Although the title belongs to the Sea Warriors, UH currently leads the tournament series 5-4.

The Warriors will take on Gustavus Adolphus, Feb. 9, at the UH Tennis Complex. Matches will begin at 12:00 p.m.



Team Leaders

WAC player of the month (Nov.) Justin Menolascino continues to lead the team in singles victories with 4, followed close behind by Lincoln Leeder and Malino Oda with three each.

Doubles partners Jorge Gonzalez and Kai Ohuchi have two victories along with duo Lincoln Leeder and Malino Oda.