HONOLULU - The University of Hawai`i women's tennis team kicked off the Aloha Invitational by dropping a 7-0 decision to Big-10 powerhouse and 10th-ranked Northwestern, Friday afternoon at the UH Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Wahine dropped to 4-11 while the No. 10 Wildcats improved their record to 9-3.

The Rainbow Wahine jumped off to a slow start by losing all three doubles matches to lose the doubles point. The 10th-ranked duo of Georgia Rose and Alexis Prousis blanked the team of senior Kana Aikawa and freshman Sophie Kobuch, 8-0, at the No. 1 position.

In singles play, UH lost all six singles matches. At No. 1, Kobuch gave 15th-ranked Rose a tough second set before losing, 6-2, 6-4. Aikawa gave a valiant effort in her lost to 23rd-ranked Samantha Murray, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 court. At the No. 4 position, senior Samanta Cappella lost a 6-2, 6-2 decision to 113th-ranked Lauren Lui.

The three-team round robin tournament continues on Saturday with a dual match between the No. 5 California Golden Bears and the No. 10 Northwestern Wildcats at 12:00 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine will next host fifth-ranked California, Sunday, March 25. First serve is set for 11:00 a.m. at the UH Tennis Complex.

No. 10 Northwestern def. Hawai`i, 7-0
Doubles (Northwestern wins doubles point)
1. Rose/Prousis (NU) def. Aikawa/Kobuch, 8-0
2. Lui/Robison (NU) def. Bihag/Wasko, 8-1
3. Conill/Murray (NU) def. Cappella/Sandborn, 8-1

Singles (each match worth one team point)
1. Georgia Rose (NU) def. Sophie Kobuch, 6-2, 6-4
2. Samantha Murray (NU) def. Kana Aikawa, 6-2, 6-2
3. Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Chloe Bihag, 6-1, 6-1
4. Lauren Lui (NU) def. Samanta Cappella, 6-2, 6-2
5. Suzie Matzenauer (NU) def. Julia Sandborn, 6-0, 6-0
6. Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Florence Wasko, 6-1, 6-0

-UH-