LOS ANGELES – In a four-hour marathon, the University of Hawai`i men's tennis team out-lasted No. 20 Oklahoma State, 4-3, in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships Friday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.  Junior Andreas Weber clinched the winning point for the Rainbow Warriors, who picked up their first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

 

Hawai`i (11-9), ranked No. 49 in the ITA, advanced to Saturday's second round where they'll face host and No. 7 UCLA, a 4-0 winner over Southern Illinois in the site's other first round match. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State, an at-large bid to the tournament, finished its season at 14-8.

 

After falling to Pepperdine in the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance last year, the Rainbow Warriors took the next step this season with its second-straight win over a Top-20 team. Five of the six singles matches were finished in straight sets, but it was a three-set slugfest between Weber and Nathan Byrnes on the No. 2 court that proved the decider. Weber, ultimately, pulled away with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win.

 

 “I'm proud of the guys,” head coach John Nelson said. “We lost the double point and we've been there before. The guys showed a lot of backbone and to win at the No. 3, 4 and 5 real quickly was huge for us.”

 

After Oklahoma State took the first point of the day in doubles, the Rainbow Warriors stormed back in singles play. UH won three of the first four courts and looked poised for the win. Jeff Fitch set the tone early with a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Anton Bobytskyi at the No. 5 court, giving UH its first point of the day. Leo Rosenberg and Sascha Heinemann also won in straight sets. Rosenberg took down Aleksey Bessonov, 6-4, 6-3, while Heineman won his 13^th straight match with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Trukshanin.

 

 

Dennis Lajola extended Oleksandr Nedovyesov, the No. 2 ranked player in the country, to a tie-breaker in the second set before eventually falling, 6-1, 7-6 (4). That result, coupled with an earlier loss by Philipp Eberhard at the No. 6 position, evened up the team score, 3-3, and set the stage for the final showdown between Weber and Byrnes. Weber won the first set 7-5 and was up 6-5 in the second set before Byrnes rallied to win the tie-breaker to even things up. But Weber and the Rainbow Warriors would not be denied as the native of Germany won the first five games in the clinching third set en route to an easy 6-1 win.

 

“Andy showed a lot today,” Nelson. “I told him earlier, 'you win and we win today.' He was up three different breaks in the second set, served for the match and got broken. But it didn't seem to bother him. He stayed calm and relaxed and played at a very high level in the final set.”

 

UH, winners of five straight matches and six of its last seven matches, will now have an opportunity to advance to the round of 16 in College Station, Texas with a win on Saturday. UH lost to UCLA in Los Angles, 6-1, earlier this season.

 

“We're going for it tomorrow,” Nelson said. “I told the guys from day one our goal was to win the WAC and go the Sweet 16. We got the talent and now they're starting to believe it.”

 

 

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1. No. 9 Oleksandr Nedovyesov/Nathan Byrnes (OSU) def. Dennis Lajola/Jeff Fitch (UH) 8-5

2. Mikhail Trukshanin/Igor Sobolta (OSU) vs. Leo Rosenberg/Andreas Weber (UH) 6-7 unfinished

3. Anton Bobytskyi/Aleksey Bessonov (OSU) def. Sascha Heinemann/Craig Faulk (UH) 8-5

 

1. No. 2 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU) def. No. 65 Dennis Lajola (UH) 6-1, 7-6 (4)

2. Andreas Weber (UH) def. Nathan Byrnes (OSU) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1

3. Leo Rosenberg (UH) def. Aleksey Bessonov (OSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Sascha Heinemann (UH) def.  Mikhail Trukshanin (OSU) 6-2, 7-5

5. Jeff Fitch (UH) def. Anton Bobytskyi (OSU) 6-2, 6-0

6. Igor Sobolta (OSU) def. Philipp Eberhard (UH) 6-1, 6-2