HONOLULU - In its first match as a nationally ranked team, the No. 59 Hawai`i men's tennis team defeated New Mexico State, 6-1, Tuesday, at the UH Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Warriors swept the three doubles matches and won five of the six singles contests against their new Western Athletic Conference foe.

Earlier in the day, UH earned its first-ever ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll by virtue of a pair of wins over ranked teams last week.

The Rainbow Warriors got on the scoreboard early with a sweep of the doubles point. At court three, freshman Sascha Heinemann and junior Chad Faulk blanked Ricardo Gorostiaga and Christian Halligan, 8-0.

In singles play, UH scored early with a straight set win by freshman Jeff Fitch over Halligan, 6-2, 6-3, at court six, while Heinemann won his seventh consecutive match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Stjepan Beg at the top spot. Senior Ryan Sceats and Jarrod Diepraam secured the team's victory with wins against Roman Stoisavljevic, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 3 and Gorostiaga, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 5, respectively.

The Aggies lone singles win came by super-tiebreaker when Tim America beat Faulk, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6), at the fourth position. UH's Bryon Weinberg closed out the match with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 decision over Brice Magnanou at court two.

UH, winners of six of its last seven matches, will next take to the court, Saturday, March 25 against Wisconsin-Green Bay. Match time is 4:00 p.m. at the UH Tennis Complex.

Match Results
Hawai`i def. New Mexico State, 6-1
Singles (each match worth one team point)
1. Sascha Heinemann def. Stjepan Beg (NMSU), 6-1, 6-1
2. Bryon Weinberg def. Brice Magnanou (NMSU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
3. Ryan Sceats def. Roman Stoisavljevic (NMSU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Tim America (NMSU) def. Chad Faulk, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6)
5. Jarrod Diepraam def. Ricardo Gorostiaga (NMSU), 6-3, 6-3
6. Jeff Fitch def. Christian Halligan (NMSU), 6-2, 6-3

Doubles (must win 2 of 3 matches for one team point)
1. Sceats/Diepraam def. Beg/Magnanou (NMSU), 8-5
2. Fitch/Weinberg def. Stoisavljevic/America (NMSU), 8-5
3. Heinemann/Faulk def. Gorostiaga/Halligan (NMSU), 8-0

-UH-