MALIBU, Calif.--The University of Hawai'i men's tennis team will head off on its first roadtrip as a complete squad this week. The Rainbow Warriors head to Malibu, Calif. to compete in the ITA Southwest Regionals hosted by Pepperdine University. The four-day event will run from Thursday, October 17 to Sunday, October 20 at the Ralph-Straus Tennis Center. The tournament is one of 12 sites chosen for each ITA region and serves as a qualifier for the Oracle/ITA National Fall Championships. Finalists from each region will make the fall championship bracket.

The Rainbow Warriors are led by sophomore southpaw, Andre Ilagan who got off to a hot start in the Fall. Ilagan began the Fall campaign going undefeated at 3-0 in singles at the College Tennis Invitational in Napa, Calif. He won his next two as well to start the Battle In the Bay to improve to 5-0 record before falling twice to conclude the tourney in San Francisco last month. Junior standout Lusas Labrunie is the only other Rainbow Warrior to compete in both preseason tournaments. Labrunie enters this week with a 4-3 singles record. Freshman Axel Labrunie and junior Blaz Seric both opened the season at the Napa tourney. Axel Labrunie recorded a 2-1 singles record while Seric went 1-2.

Making their first appearances of the year for Simao Telo Alves, Chia-Hua Lu, and Tristan Martins.


Tournament Information
Tournament: ITA Southwest Regionals
Site: Ralph-Straus Tennis Center (Malibu, Calif.)
Dates: Thursday, October 17 to Sunday, October 20