STANFORD, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team (13-6, 6-2 Big West) opens the first round of the 2018 NCAA Women's Tennis tournament against Big Ten tournament champions No. 23 Michigan (17-9, 10-1 Big Ten). The first and second round bracket that Hawai'i is in will be hosted by 13^th-seeded Stanford at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. First serve is slated for 8:00 a.m. HT.
 
The 'Bows punched their NCAA tourney ticket after winning their first ever Big West Tournament title this past Sunday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Hawai'i, the No. 4 seed, upset top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals, 4-3. UH then claimed the crown with a 4-2 win over the No. 3 seed Cal State Fullerton. After falling twice to UCSB in the BWC Championship match the previous two years, the 'Bows were finally able to break through to capture the tourney title. It is however UH's second conference tournament title. Hawai'i won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) crown in 2012 to advance to the program's first NCAA tournament.

Last week, the Big West announced their all-conference honors and Hawai'i collected the most awards in program history. Leading the Rainbow Wahine into battle this week is sophomore No. 73 Petra Melounova who last week earned her second-straight BWC Player of the Year. She enters the NCAA with a 14-3 overall dual match record. She is currently on an eight-match win streak—with only two of those matches going to three sets. Melounova has played all of her matches on the No. 1 court this season.
 
Earning second-team conference honors in singles were Nikola Dolakova and Marina Hruba while Roxanne Resma earned honorable mention accolades. Dolakova finished the regular season with a 7-9 dual match mark while going 5-3 in the Big West playing most of her matches on the No. 2 court. Pribylova has gone 11-7 with all but one decision coming on the No. 4 court. Resma recorded a 12-5 singles mark playing primarily at No. 6. Not earning all-conference honors, but having a very solid season was sophomore Michelle Pits with a 10-5 record.
 
In doubles, both UH's Melounova/Resma and Pribylova/Dolakova were named to the all-Big West first team. UH's No. 3 pair of Hruba and Alzbeta Houbova were recognized with honorable mention honors. Melounova/Resma led UH with a 12-2 record while going 7-0 in conference. Over the past two seasons they have combined for a 12-0 Big West doubles record together. Dolakova/Pribylova went 5-8 this season primarily playing on the No. 1 court.
  
NCAA DI Women's Tennis Tournament
First Round
Who: Hawai'i (13-6, 6-2 Big West) vs. No. 23 Michigan (17-9, 10-1 Big Ten)
Where: Taube Family Tennis Center (Stanford, Calif.)
When: Friday, May 11, 2018
Time: 8:00 a.m. (HT)
Livestats/video: gostanford.com
Tickets: All seats are general admission. Single-day tickets are $8 (adult) and $5 (student/youth/senior). Tickets will go sale Wednesday, May 2, at 9 a.m. PT. The box office will open 30 minutes before the first event on each day.