HONOLULU—The 75th-ranked University of Hawai'i men's tennis team (8-1, 1-0 Big West) returns home to host its final home stand of 2022 this week. The Rainbow Warriors have three Big West matches starting with Cal Poly (9-4, 0-0 BWC) on Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 12:00 p.m., followed by UC Davis (13-8, 0-0 Big West) on Friday, March 25th at 1:00 p.m.. The 'Bows will battle 53rd-ranked UC Santa Barbara (11-4, 0-0 BWC) in their home season finale on Sunday, March 27th at 12:00 p.m.. On Sunday, the Rainbow Warriors will celebrate its Senior Day and recognize its lone senior, Blaz Seric.
 
Hawai'i entered the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) poll on Wednesday at No. 75. It is the first time UH has been ranked since February 28, 2012 at No. 74. It is the first time under third-year head coach Joël Kusnierz that the 'Bows entered the ITA team rankings. In 2020, his first season as the head coach of the men's tennis program, Kusnierz snapped UH's streak of nine-straight losing seasons. During that nine-year stretch, UH had a 47-119  record. In the COVID-19-shortened season of 2020, Kusnierz's first season, UH was 9-6. In 2021 in an abbreviated schedule, he led them to a 5-4 record. This season, after losing the first match of the year at UNLV, UH has reeled off eight-consecutive wins—the longest streak in over 20 seasons. His record as head coach currently is 22-11.
 
Fourth-year junior Andre Ilagan was named Big West Player of the Week for the second week in a row.  It is his sixth career conference weekly honor and second of the season. Ilagan helped lead UH to a 4-2 win in their Big West opener on the road at UCSD this past Monday. Ilagan was dominant both at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. In singles, Ilagan set the tone for the match, finishing first while cruising past UCSD's Daniel Traxler, 6-1, 6-1. Ilagan has won 10 successive sets in singles play over the past five contests. As a team, Hawai'i lost the doubles point to the Tritons, but UH's No. 1 duo of Ilagan and Karl Collins notched the 'Bows only win with a blanking of UCSD's Jett Cole and Traxler, 6-0. Ilagan has won his last four finished matches playing at No. 1 (three times with Collins and once with Axel Labrunie). 

In singles, sophomore Guillaume Tattevin is atop the UH standings with Ilagan with a 6-0 singles record playing at No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6, while Blaz Seric enters the week at 5-1 and Axel Labrunie 4-1.
 

DUAL MATCH #10 - #75 HAWAI'I (8-1, 1-0 BWC) vs. CAL POLY (9-4, 0-0 BWC)
DATE				Thursday, March 24, 2022
TIME				12:00 p.m.
SITE				UH Tennis Complex (Honolulu, O'ahu)
SOCIAL MEDIA				@UofHawaiiTennis  | #HawaiiMTEN | @uhwarriortennis  | Facebook

 

DUAL MATCH #11 - #75 HAWAI'I (8-1, 1-0 BWC) vs. UC DAVIS (13-8, 0-0 BWC)
DATE				Friday, March 25, 2022
TIME				1:00 p.m.
SITE				UH Tennis Complex (Honolulu, O'ahu)
SOCIAL MEDIA				@UofHawaiiTennis  | #HawaiiMTEN | @uhwarriortennis  | Facebook

 

DUAL MATCH #12 - #75 HAWAI'I (8-1, 1-0 BWC) vs. #53 UC SANTA BARBARA (11-4, 0-0 BWC)
DATE				Sunday, March 27, 2022
TIME				12:00 p.m.
SITE				UH Tennis Complex (Honolulu, O'ahu)
SOCIAL MEDIA				@UofHawaiiTennis  | #HawaiiMTEN | @uhwarriortennis  | Facebook