SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The fourth-seeded University of Hawai'i (11-8) men's tennis team recorded an epic, come-from-behind win that propelled UH past fifth-seeded Cal Poly (7-12) into the Big West Championship semifinals on Saturday at the Barnes Tennis Center.  
 
Things were looking bleak as Hawai'i trailed 3-1. But UH's Andre Ilagan sparked the Warriors with a three set victory that to started to turn the tide. Axel Labrunie followed winning at No. 2 and Guillaume Tattevin clinched the match winning at No. 4 to catapult Hawai'i into the semifinals for the fourth-straight season. Hawai'i also ended the regular season with a 4-3 win over Cal Poly two weeks ago.
 
In doubles, the two teams were tied 1-1, but the Mustangs' No. 1 duo of Bastian Westrate and Colter Smith edged out UH's Lucas Laburnie and Ilagan in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (4) to earn the 1-0 lead.
 
Cal Poly won on the No. 3 court to go up 2-0. Hawai'i's Karl Collins came through in just his sixth singles appearance of the year, downing CP's Westrate in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Another Mustang win on court No. 5 gave Cal Poly a 3-1 lead with the remaining three matches going to three sets.
 
Hawai'i's No. 1, 74^th-ranked Ilagan knocked off 107^th-ranked Noah Berry in three, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. UH's No. 2 Axel Labrunie erased a first set loss and came back strong to pull away from Cal Poly's Joe Leather, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 to even the match at 3-3.
 
A spot in the semifinals hinged on the final match on Court 4 between UH's Guillaume Tattevin and CP's Colten Smith. After falling in the first set by one break, Tattevan battled back to take down Smith in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 for the win.
 
This is the third-straight year that UH has advanced to the semifinals under head coach Joël Kusnierz. Hawai'i advance to play top-seeded UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 6:00 a.m. HT at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.


Hawai'i 4, Cal Poly 3
Apr 28, 2023 at San Diego, Calif.
(Barnes Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. #74 Andre Ilagan (UH) def. #107 Noah Berry (CP) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
2. Axel Labrunie (UH) def. Joe Leather (CP) 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
3. Fernando Fonseca (CP) def. Vojtech Vlkovsky (UH) 6-4, 6-1
4. Guillaume Tattevin (UH) def. Colter Smith (CP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Carter Crookston (CP) def. Kilian Maitre (UH) 6-4, 6-1
6. Karl Collins (UH) def. Bastian Westrate (CP) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Bastian Westrate/Colter Smith (CP) def. Andre Ilagan/Lucas Labrunie (UH) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Fernando Fonseca/Noah Berry (CP) def. Kilian Maitre/Axel Labrunie (UH) 6-3
3. Karl Collins/Vojtech Vlkovsky (UH) def. Joe Leather/Aaron Eliscu (CP) 6-2

Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,6,5,1,2,4)
T-3:12 A-64