SAN DIEGO, Calif.--The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team (9-11, 6-3 Big West) begins defense of its Big West Championship title as the No. 3 seed and will begin the tournament against sixth-seeded Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, April 25th at 9:00 a.m. HT at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif. Hawai'i finished tied with Long Beach State with a 6-3 conference record, but UH defeated The Beach head-to-head to earn the No. 3 seeding.
 

2024 Big West Beach Women's Tennis Championship
Who				No. 1 UC Santa Barbara, No. 2 CSUN, No. 3 Hawai'i, No. 4 Long Beach State, No. 5 Cal State Fullerton, No. 6 Cal Poly, No. 7 UC Davis, No. 9 UC Irvine, No. 9 UC riverside
Date | Time				Thursday, April 25 (Quarterfinals); Friday, April 27 (Semifinals); Saturday, April 28 (Championship)
Location				Barnes Tennis Center | San Diego, Calif.
BW Tournament Central				Interactive Bracket | Video Stream | Live Scoring
Social Media				@UofHawaiiTennis  | #HawaiiWTEN  | #hawaiiwomenstennis  | Facebook

Hawai'i In The Big West Championship 
Last year, the Rainbow Wahine won both the regular season title and the 2023 Big West Championship tournament to advance to its third NCAA tournament. Hawai"i has won the regular season Big West crown twice (2017, '23) and has also won the BW Championships twice (2018, '23). The Rainbow Wahine are 16-8 in the Big West Championship since rejoining the league in 2013.

Seeding Change
After the seeds for The Big West Women's Tennis Championship were released, a protest was filed regarding a match that was played over the April 21 weekend.  Pursuant to ITA and Big West rules, an ad-hoc protest committee was created to review the protest, decide whether a violation had occurred, and, if so, determine whether match results would change as a result.  The committee consisted of three neutral administrators from Big West institutions that would not be affected by the outcome of the protest.  Today, the protest committee issued a decision that changes Cal Poly's Big West record from 5-4 to 5-3-1.  As a result, Cal Poly moves to the No.5 and Cal State Fullerton moves to the No. 6 seed.  There are no other changes. 

Rainbow Wahine vs. Titans
On Feb. 29, UH edged out Cal State Fullerton. 4-3 in Honolulu. The Titans captured the doubles point, but the 'Bows won four of the six singles matches to earn the win. Freshman Nelly Knezkova clinched the match winning at No. 2 by a break in both sets, 7-5, 6-4. Hawai'i has won the last three meetings against the Titans.

Winning in the Clutch
This year's Rainbow Wahine squad has edged out their opponents, 4-3 in seven of their nine win this year. Five different Rainbow Wahine (Ana Vilcek-Sacramento State; Sheena Masuda-Long Beach State; Nikola Homolkova-Illinois State; Joëlle Lanz-UC Irvine & UC Davis; and Nelly Knezkova-Cal State Fullerton & San Jose State) have come through in the clutch to clinch the win for UH this season.

Doubles Troubles
UH has only won their doubles point twice this season--against UC San Diego and UC Riverside

Battle Tested
Three Rainbow Wahine have notched double-digit dual match wins this season. Both Homolkova and Knezkova have a team-best 11-7 overall record, but in conference Homokova is 6-1 and Knezkova has recorded a 6-3 record. Ana Vilcek is 10-7 overall but has a team-high seven wins in the Big West at 7-2.

Vilcek on a Roll
Since Vilcek and Knezkova have flipped No. 1 & No. 2, Vilcek has won five of her last six decisions playing at No.2--including the last three-straight. In doubles, she owns UH's best overall record, going 6-8. She and partner Homolkova together have recorded a team-best 4-6 record. Vilcek earned the first Big West Player of the Week honor this season. It was the second conference weekly award of her career.

Knezkova Rising
Earlier this season, Knezkova, a rookie from Prague, Czech Republic, won back-to-back Big West Player of the Week awards. She's upset No. 38 Hannah Viller Moeller from 10th-ranked California in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 to cap a six-match winning streak in the middle of the season. She also nearly upended 18th-ranked Julia Fliegner leading 4-0 in the third set when UH's match vs. No. 2 Michigan ended. She clinched UH's 4-3 wins over San Jose State and Cal State Fullerton.