The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team (6-7, 4-4 BWC) will travel to southern California this week to participate in the Big West Women's Tennis Tournament, which runs Thursday, April 29 to Saturday, May 2 at the Irvine Great Park in Irvine, Calif. 
 
The Rainbow Wahine are the No. 5 seed and will open the tournament against fourth-seeded UC Davis in a quarterfinal match on Thursday, April 29 at 8:30 a.m. PT. The teams met earlier this month in Davis, Calif., in a tightly contested match that was won by the Aggies, 4-2. UH played without three-time Big West Player of the Year Petra Melounova, who recently returned from injury and is healthy in time for the conference tournament.

Hawai'i concluded the 2021 regular season this past Sunday after sweeping UC Riverside, 4-0, which snapped a four-match losing streak. Melounova won her singles match in straight sets at the No. 1 court and teamed with Bojana Markovic in No. 1 doubles. 
 
Senior Nikola Dolakova leads the Rainbow Wahine in singles wins with a 6-3 overall record while Satsuki Takamura had five victories. In doubles, Dolakova and Takamura teamed for seven wins playing primarily on the No. 1 court.

UH looks to replicate its past conference success coming in to this year's tournament. Since 2016, the Rainbow Wahine steadily held the second-place spot in the tournament before winning their first Big West championship in 2018 after defeating Cal State Fullerton, 4-2. With Melounova, Michelle Pitts, and Dolakova playing at the No. 1, 2, and 6 singles courts at that time, the win advanced the 'Bows to their second NCAA Tournament in program history. 

In 2019, UH made another run for the championship after upsetting top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals. Playing against Long Beach State in the championship match, the Rainbow Wahine won the doubles point before falling to the Beach, 4-3, after a tough singles competition. Last year's tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.

The 'Bows enter the 2021 tournament with a 6-7 overall record and 4-4 mark in Big West play. Meanwhile UC Davis (8-7, 5-3 BWC) has a four-match win streak which started with the win over Hawai'i on April 11. The winner will move on to the semifinals against either top-seeded UC Santa Barbara and eighth-seeded UC Riverside. The semifinal match is scheduled for Friday, April 30 at 9:00 a.m. PT.

Big West Women's Tennis Tournament
What: Quarterfinals
Who: #5 Hawai'i (6-7) vs. #4 UC Davis (8-7)
Date: Thursday, April 29, 2021
Time: 8:30 a.m. PT
Site: Irvine Great Park (Irvine, Calif.)