SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team heads to California for its first roadtrip of 2018. The Rainbow Wahine return to the courts after a 20-day layoff and will first take on San Diego (Feb. 8) before opening Big West Conference action at Long Beach State (Feb. 10) and UC Davis. (Feb. 13).
 
The Rainbow Wahine have had a busy and tough non-conference season to start the year.  UH has hosted three tournaments in the first three weeks of 2018 against some stiff competition, including No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 9 Duke, No. 11 California and No. 25 TCU to name a few of the schools.
 
In doubles, UH's duo of Nikola Dolakova and Klara Pribylova lead the 'Bows with a 6-4 record. Dolakova and Pribylova got off to a hot start, winning their first five straight matches before dropping the next four. But the 'Bows got back on the winning track, defeating Pepperdine's Evgeniya Levashova and Laura Gulbe, 6-2 in their most recent match on Jan. 18. Second on the squad is the combo of Alzbeta Houbova and Marina Hruba who has a 5-3 record together.
 
In singles, sophomore Michelle Pits started the season with a bang, reeling off five straight wins—including a win over 71^st-ranked Aleksa Cveticanin (TCU). She enters this week with a 5-3 record. Rookie Taylor Lau is another Rainbow Wahine who currently holds a winning singles record, recording an early 4-3 mark. She has a 4-3 record and has won three of her last four matches. Last year's Big West Player and Freshman of the Year, Petra Melounova has been dealing with an injury and is 2-1 in singles and has a 3-3 doubles mark with partner Roxanne Rexma.
 
Dual Match #2
Teams: Hawai'i (0-1, BWC 0-0) at San Diego (1-3, 0-0 WCC)
Site: Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center (San Diego, Calif.)
Date: Thursday, February 8, 2018
Time: 11:30 a.m. HT
 
Dual Match #3
Teams: Hawai'i (0-1, 0-0 BWC) at Long Beach State (1-1, 0-0 BWC)
Site: Rhodes Tennis Center (Long Beach, Calif.)
Date: Saturday, February 10, 2018
Time: 9:00 a.m. HT
 
Dual Match #4
Teams: Hawai'i (0-1, BWC 0-0) at UC Davis (4-1, 0-0 BWC)
Site: Marya Welch Tennis Center (Davis, Calif.)
Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Time: 11:30 a.m. HT