The University of Hawai‘i women’s tennis team looked to gain their first win of the season against Cal State Northridge Jan. 21, but once again fell short as the Matadors squeezed past the Rainbow Wahine, 4-3.

After the match up between the two was postponed for three days due to heavy rain, the Wahine entered the singles portion of the match fired up. Senior co-captain Birgitte Brubakken led the way by defeating Stephanie Chu in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Freshman Lauren Fitzgerald stepped up her game overpowering Kendra Segura in the No. 2 position, 6-1, 6-2, while fellow freshman Kimberly Curtis defeated Brittany Bierman 6-2, 7-6. Senior co-captain Stacy Hakikawa and freshman Paige Mainor would both fall to Matadors Tereza Simonyan and Veronica Wagner, respectively. Polina Kravets took the first set from Rani Setiawati, 4-6, however Setiawati would take the second and third sets, 6-3, 6-2 tying up the match at three a piece. In doubles action, the duo of Hakikawa and Fitzgerald put UH in the lead defeating Chu and Simonyan in the No. 1 position, 8-5. Northridge would answer back with an 8-4 win over Brubakken and Mainor in the No. 2 position by Setiawati and Wagner. In the deciding match Northridge’s Segura and Brittany Bierman would just edge Hawai‘i’s Boutet and Kravets, 9-8, sealing the victory for the Matadors and rejecting the Wahine of their first win of the season. Despite the loss, head coach Carolyn Katayama was proud of her young team’s effort. “What a match. All the matches were good matches and in my eyes everyone was a winner.”