HONOLULU, O'ahu – In the first-ever meeting between the programs, the University of Hawai'i women's tennis team swept UC San Diego, 7-0, in a Big West Conference match Thursday night at the UH Tennis Complex.
 
Playing under the lights at Manoa, the Rainbow Wahine (3-2) started off strong and didn't let up. UH captured all three courts in doubles and dropped just one set total in taking all six courts in singles.
 
Satsuki Takamura and Nikola Dolakova set the tone for the match, effortlessly winning against UCSD's Sophie Pearson and Ella Pachl, 6-0 to start off doubles play. The clinching doubles point came on the No. 3 court with Rebecca Ehn and Alexis Merrill gaining the upper hand over UCSD's Shweta Kumar and Monica Stratakos, 6-2. The Rainbow Wahine finished doubles play on the No. 2 court with Petra Melounova and Léa Romain defending their keep against UCSD's Rachel Wagner and Anu Bhadada, 7-6 (8-6).
 
The Rainbow Wahine excelled in singles as Takamura proved dominant again, this time shutting  Wagner out in two straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, on the No. 3 court. Kim secured another UH point against Kumar on the No. 5 court, winning 6-1, 6-2, while Romain ultimately clinched the match for the Rainbow Wahine on court No. 4 against Bhadada, with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
 
Courts 1, 2 and 6 proved competitive, but the Rainbow Wahine won on all three as well. After Romain's match clinching game, Dolakova won on court No. 2 against UCSD's Pachl, 7-5, 6-3. Melounova outplayed Pearson in the second set on the No. 1 court, 6-4, 7-5. The match came to a close with the only three-setter at flight 6 as Merill left little doubt in the end, defeating Statakos by a 10-2 count in the super-tiebreaker.
 
The Rainbow Wahine will face the Tritons again tomorrow, March 26 at the UH Tennis Complex in a non-conference matchup. They will then go up against Cal Poly in another Big West match on Saturday, March 27.
 
Hawai'i 7, UCSD 0
March 25, 2021
Honolulu, O'ahu. (UH Tennis Complex)
 
Doubles
1. Takamura/Dolokova(UH) def. Pearson/Pachl (UCSD) 6-0
2. Melounova/Romain (UH) def. Wagner/Bhadada (UCSD) 7-6 (6)
3. Ehn/Merrill (UH) def. Kumar/Stratakos (UCSD) 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3*, 2
 
 
Singles
1. Melounova (UH) def. Pearson (UCSD) 6-4, 7-5
2. Dolakova (UH) def. Pachl (UCSD) 7-5, 6-3
3. Takamura(UH) def. Wagner (UCSD) 6-0, 6-0
4. Romain(UH) def. Bhadada(UCSD) 6-2, 6-2
5. Kim (UH) def. Kumar (UCSD) 6-1, 6-2
6. Merrill (UH) def. Stratakos (UH) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-2)
Order of finish: 3, 5, 4*, 2,1, 6