HONOLULU - The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team will kick off their 2021-2022 season hosting the Anuenue Invitational this week Friday and Saturday, Oct. 8th & 9th, and next week Thursday and Friday, Oct. 14th & 15th, at the UH Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Wahine will be hosting HPU for their first home invitational since 2019.
The Rainbow Wahine return eight players this season, including Satsuki Takamura, Sophia Storch, Lea Romain, Alexis Merrill, Jessalyn Lopez, Madison Kim, Anna Kalabukhova, and Rebecca Ehn.
Leading the 'Bows into the 2021-2022 season, Takamura has accumulated a 6-8 record playing on the No. 3 and No. 4 courts last season while Romain had a 4-3 record spanning the No. 3, 4, and 5 courts. In doubles, Takamura had a 7-7 mark with former partner Petra Melounova on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts, with duo Ehn and Merrill following, 2-3, on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts.
Last season, the Rainbow Wahine got back into the groove with a sixteen game schedule following the shortened 2019-2021 season. Entering the 2021 Big West Conference in Irvine, Calif., the 'Bows reached the semifinals after defeating UC Davis, 4-1, after taking five out of six singles points over the Aggies. The team then fell to top-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 4-0, ending the season with a 7-8 overall and 4-4 in conference record.
Three new Rainbow Wahine will make their UH debut at the Anuenue Invite - seniors Gitte Heynemans from Brussels, Belgium, Tal Talya Zandberg from Tiberias, Israel, and graduate transfer Nidhi Surapaneni from Douglasville, Georgia and Hyderabad, India. Both Heynemans and Zandberg have three seasons under their belt playing for Arizona while Surapaneni transferred from North Texas after four seasons with the Mean Green.
Prior to their college careers, Heynemans won the Walloon Championship Open in 2016 and the ITF Junior Gr4 in 2015 while Zandberg won first place at the Israeli Championship Junior U18 in 2013. At 16, Surapaneni won the Indian Women's National Tournament.
Anuenue Invitational
Who: Hawai'i (0-0) vs. HPU (0-0)
When: Friday, Oct. 8th at 3:30 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 9th at 10:00 a.m. | Oct 14th - 15th, 2021 (TBD)
Where: UH Tennis Complex (Honolulu, O'ahu)
#HawaiiWTEN
