IRVINE, Calif. – The fourth-seeded University of Hawai'i men's tennis team defeated fifth-seeded UC Davis, 4-2, Friday in the first round of the Big West Tournament at the Orange County Great Park.

The Rainbow Warriors (5-3) will move on to the semifinals where they will face top-seeded Cal Poly on Saturday, May 1 at 12:00 p.m. PT. The match will be reminiscent of Hawai'i's last Big West semifinals run in 2014, where they fell to Cal Poly, 4-1.

UC Davis (8-11) held a 1-0 lead early on in the dual after clinching the doubles point on Court #1, where Ivan Thamma and David Goulak defeated UH's Andre Ilagan and Lucas Labrunie, 6-3. Andrei Volgin and Mitchell Davis passed by UH's Blaz Seric and Axel Labrunie to capture Court #2, 6-1, finishing first. In turn, UH's Tristan Martins and Simao Telo Alves responded with a win on Court #3, 6-2, against Chethan Swanson and Dariush Jalali. 

In singles, Ilagan evened the dual by defeating Thamma, 6-4, 6-1, on the No. 1 court. Seric followed, overtaking Goulak in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, on the No. 3 court. With Hawai'i up by one point in the dual,  Telo Alves added to the win column by knocking off Arjith Jayaraman, 6-0, 7-6 (5), on the No. 6 court. UH's Lucas Labrunie clinched the match on the No. 2 court after beating Volgin in a tiebreaker first set and outplaying him in the second, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
 
During the same time as Lucas Labrunie's match clinching performance, the Aggies managed to secure one point on the No. 5 court after Swanson defeated Martins, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
 
Hawai'i last played Cal Poly on March 26, where they narrowly fell to the Mustangs, 5-2, on their home turf.
 
Big West Tournament First Round
Hawai'i 4, UC Davis 2
April 30, 2021
Irvine, Calif. (Orange County Great Park)
 
Doubles
1. Thamma, Ivan/Goulak, David (UCD) def. Andre Ilagan/Lucas Labrunie (UH) 6-3
2. Volgin, Andrei/Davis, Mitchell (UCD) def. Blaz Seric/Axel Labrunie (UH) 6-1
3. Tristan Martins/Simao Telo Alves (UH) def. Swanson, Chethan/Jalali, Dariush (UCD) 6-2
Order of finish: (2, 3, 1*)

Singles
1. Andre Ilagan (UH) def. Thamma, Ivan (UCD) 6-4, 6-1
2. Lucas Labrunie (UH) def. Volgin, Andrei (UCD) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
3. Blaz Seric (UH) def. Goulak, David (UCD) 6-3, 6-2
4. Axel Labrunie (UH) vs. Necz, Andras (UCD) 6-2, 1-6, 5-2, unfinished
5. Swanson, Chethan (UCD) def. Tristan Martins (UH) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Simao Telo Alves (UH) def. Jayaraman, Arjith (UCD) 6-0, 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: (1, 3, 6, 2*, 5)