HONOLULU, O'ahu – The University of Hawai'i men's tennis team played tit for tat against Big West Conference foe UC Irvine Saturday afternoon at the UH Tennis Complex, falling by the narrowest of margins, 4-3. The Rainbow Warriors drop to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
 
UH matched the Anteaters in both doubles and singles, with the doubles point coming down to a deuce set on the No. 3 court. Similarly in singles, the two teams went back and forth winning singles points until ultimately, the match was clinched in the second to last match on the No. 3 court by UCI.
 
In doubles, UH's No. 2 duo of Blaz Seric and Axel Labrunie were outmatched by Matuesz Smolicki and Mark Peneff, 6-2 but UH's Andre Ilagan and Lucas Labrunie struck back to even the score at 1-1, defeating Bjorn Hoffman and Bruce Man-So-Hing, 6-4, on No. 1 court. Court No. 3 proved to be the clincher, where UH's Simao Telo Alves and Tristan Martins fell to Ali Amiri and Jeremy Merville, 7-5, securing the doubles point for UCI.
 
In singles, the Warriors were determined to push the Anteaters to their limits, taking half of the six singles matches to three sets.  
 
The first singles point went to the Anteaters on the No. 2 court, where Seric was beaten in two sets by Merville, 6-3, 6-2. UH's Axel Labrunie finished second by defeating Peneff which included a shutout in the second, 7-5, 6-0. Telo Alves battled UCI's Mike Mkrtchain until eventually falling in the third set, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. Hawai'i's No. 1 player Ilagan also took his opponent, Hoffman, outlasting him, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. 
 
With UCI leading 3-2 in the dual, the No. 3 court ended up clinching the match for the Anteaters, where Lucas Labrunie and Smolicki were going head to head. Smolicki won the first set, but Labrunie managed to come back and secure the second. The decisive third set went to Smolicki in a tight finish, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Moments after the clinching point, Martins defeated Amiri in two tiebreaker sets, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) on the No. 6 court.
 
The Warriors will next host their final home match of the season against UC San Diego Monday, April 5 at 3:00 p.m., at the UH Tennis Complex.
 
UC Irvine 4, Hawai'i 3
April 3, 2021
Honolulu, O'ahu (UH Tennis Complex)
 
Doubles
1. Andre Ilagan/Lucas Labrunie (UH) def. Bjorn Hoffmann/Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI) 6-4
2. Mateusz Smolicki/Mark Peneff (UCI) def. Blaz Seric/Axel Labrunie (UH) 6-2
3. Ali Amiri/Jeremy Merville (UCI) def. Simao Telo Alves/Tristan Martins (UH) 7-5
Order of finish: (2, 1*, 3)
 
Singles
1. Andre Ilagan (UH) def. Bjorn Hoffmann (UCI) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
2. Jeremy Merville (UCI) def. Blaz Seric (UH) 6-3, 6-2
3. Mateusz Smolicki (UCI) def. Lucas Labrunie (UH) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
4. Axel Labrunie (UH) def. Mark Peneff (UCI) 7-5, 6-0
5. Mike Mkrtchian (UCI) def. Simao Telo Alves (UH) 7-5, 1-6, 6-1
6. Tristan Martins (UH) def. Ali Amiri (UCI) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: (2, 4, 5, 1, 3*, 6)