Warrior Malino Oda fought off a stubborn Gordon Hong to push the University of Hawai`i men’s tennis team (16-10) over Azusa Pacific (No. 7 NAIA), 4-3, in the season home finale at the UH Tennis Complex, Tuesday.

Hawai`i got an early 1-0 edge on the Cougars (14-7) by taking two of the three doubles matches led by the dynamic duo of Jorge Gonzalez and Kai Ohuchi who defeated Todd Lindbloom and Kevin Luu, 8-5. Warriors Oda and Lincoln Leeder proved to be a deadly combination over the season with a 12-7 overall record in doubles action, but Azusa’s Simon Bieri and Sam Fletcher closed the match topping the No. 1 duo, 8-3. Justin Menolascino and Reginaldo Moralejo would pull out the doubles victory in a close match with Adam Davidson and Hong, 9-8.

The Cougars would answer back with an attack on the Warriors in the singles portion of the match. Azusa Pacific’s Davidson pulled out a straight set victory in No. 4 singles over Brignole, 6-1, 6-1. Gonzalez wouldn’t let the Cougars take the lead as he too closed out his match, 6-1, 6-1 over Luu in the No. 5 position. Azusa Pacific would take two more matches over No. 1 Moralejo and No. 2 Menolascino while Hawai`i’s Leeder took the No. 6 position to tie the match at three a piece.

The deciding match would come down to the No. 3 singles between Hawai`i’s Oda and Azusa Pacific’s Hong. Oda would lose the first set, 6-7, but the relentless Warrior fought back to take the second and third sets, 6-3, 6-2.

The Warriors will take the week off and resume practice on Monday to prepare for the WAC Tournament scheduled for April 26-30 in Tulsa, Okla.



Match Results
Hawai`i def. Azusa Pacific, 4-3

Singles
Sam Fletcher def. Reginaldo Moralejo (UH), 6-2, 6-1
Simon Bieri def. Justin Menolascino (UH), 7-6, 6-1
Malino Oda (UH) def. Gordon Hong, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2
Adam Davidson def. Francisco Brignole (UH), 6-1, 6-1
Jorge Gonzalez (UH) def. Kevin Luu, 6-1, 6-1
Lincoln Leeder (UH) def. Todd Lindbloom, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
Bieri/Gletcher def. Leeder/Oda (UH), 8-3
Menolascino/Moralejo (UH) def. Davidson/Hong, 9-8
Gonzalez/Kai Ohuchi (UH) def. Lindbloom/Luu, 8-5