HONOLULU –The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team fell in its opening dual match of the season to No. 14 Washington, 5-1. The Rainbow Wahine however proved that they weren't going down without a fight against the Huskies. The match began after a two hour rain delay with singles action on Wednesday afternoon at the UH Tennis Complex.

The highlight for UH was senior Michelle Pits' straight-set win on the No. 5 court over Washington's Nika Zupancic. Pits doubled up on Zupancic in the first set, then held off the Huskie in a tiebreaker for the win, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Washington's 102nd-ranked Vanessa Wong held off UH's Petra Melounova on the No. 1 court in a hard fought three-set match. Wong stymied Melounova in the first set, but the three-time Big West Player of the Year battled back to take the second set before falling by a break in the third, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Hawsai'i rookie Madison Kim just missed forcing a third set against UW's Zoey Weil at No. 6. Weil cruised to take the first set, but Kim was edged out in a second set tiebreaker, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
 
The Rainbow Wahine have a couple days to prepare for their second-straight ranked opponent. UH will take on No. 16 Florida State on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the UH Tennis Complex.

#14 Washington 5, Hawaii 1
Jan 15, 2020
at Honolulu, HI (UH Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
1. #102 Vanessa Wong (WASH) def. Petra Melounova (UH) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
2. Natsuho Arakawa (WASH) def. #91 Bojana Markovic (UH) 6-4, 6-1
3. #88 Katarina Kopcalic (WASH) def. #103 Satsuki Takamura (UH) 6-4, 6-1
4. Sedona Gallagher (WASH) def. Nikola Dolakova (UH) 6-0, 6-2
5. Michelle Pits (UH) def. Nika Zupancic (WASH) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Zoey Weil (WASH) def. Madison Kim (UH) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles competition
Did not play

Match Notes:
Washington 4-0; National ranking #14 Hawaii 0-1
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (,2,3,6,1,5)
*Match started 2 hours late due to inclement weather **Teams started with singles