HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team opens their fall season hosting the 2023 UH Ānuenue Invitational. The five-day tournament will be played over the span of two weekends, starting this Friday, Oct. 6 - Sunday, Oct. 8. The invitational will conclude the following week with matches on Thursday, Oct. 12 and Friday, Oct. 13. Hawai'i, Hawai'i Pacific and UH Hilo will all be competing in the tourney that will be held at the UH Tennis Complex.
Hawai'i, the defending regular season and conference tournament Big West champions, return five players from 2023 led by All-Big West First Teamers
Ana Vilcek and Nikkola Homolkova who played primarily at the top of the order at No.'s 1 and 2 respectively. Vilcek, a sophomore southpaw from Pancevo, Serbia, was solid playing at the top of the lineup, posting a 14-5 overall and 6-2 conference record and went 10-4 playing at No. 1 this season. She had a nine-match win streak from Jan. 19 – March 23. Her three-set win against Cal Poly in the Big West Championship match clinched the title for UH. Last year, Vilcek earned BW honorable mention honors.
Homolkova's was a major contributor in her first year at Hawai'i after transferring from Long Beach State. Last year, the native of Pelhrimov, Czech Republic recorded a 10-8 overall record and was nearly perfect in conference going 7-1 in the Big West. In doubles, she and Vilcek joined forces in the middle of the season and ended the year with an 8-4 record.
The Rainbow Wahine are led by head coach
Jun Hernandez. Last year, he led UH to a 14-7 overall record and a league-best 8-1 conference mark en route to being voted Big West Coach of the Year for the third time. He has directed the team to eight-straight seasons with double-digit wins.
Hawai'i welcomes four newcomers into the fold--
Nelly Knezkova,
Joelle Lanz,
Sheena Masuda,
Isabella Pampulov, and
Macy Rose. Rejoining the team is 2022 All-Big West First Team player Léa Romain, who suffered a season-ending injury last fall.
| UH ANUENUE INVITATIONAL |
| OPPONENTS |
Hawai'i, Hawai'i Pacific, UH Hilo |
| DATES / TIMES |
Friday, Oct. 6 at 3:30 p.m. HT
Saturday, Oct. 7 at 10:00 a.m. HT
Sunday, Oct. 8 at 10:00 a.m. HT
Thursday, Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m. HT
Friday, Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m. HT |
| SITE |
UH Tennis Complex - Honolulu, O'ahu |
| SOCIAL MEDIA |
@UofHawaiiTennis  | #HawaiiWTEN | #hawaiiwomenstennis  | Facebook  |
#HawaiiWTEN
