HONOLULU--The University of Hawai'i men's tennis team kicked off its 2026 season falling in a hard fought battle against 15th-ranked California, 6-1. Hawai'i's Azuma Visaya highlighted the match with a singles victory on the No. 1 court. But the Golden Bears swept the doubles point then rolled to win five out of six singles matches on Wednesday night at the UH Tennis Complex.

In doubles, Cal's Winston Wooln Lee and Paris Pouatcha withstood UH's No. 3 duo of Kent Mueller and Hikaru Takahashi who had match point, but were eventually edged out by Cal in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-1).

In singles, UH's Visaya cruised to take the first set, but then Cal's Fryderyk Lechno Wasiutynski evened the match by taking the second frame. With the team match already in hand, the No. 1 match was decided by a 10-point tiebreaker. Visaya opened with a 5-0 lead and held off Lechno Wasiutynski the rest of the way, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5).

On the No. 3 court, Hawai'i Timothy Li fell in a tight match by a first set tie-breaker and by a break in the second to Cal's Timofey Stepanov, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4. UH rookie Hikaru Takahashi gave everything he had at No. 5, but fell just short to Wooln Lee in straight sets, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

Hawai'i will have one day to prepare for a pair of matches to end the week. On Friday, Jan. 9th, Hawai'i will face Gonzaga. The 'Bows will then close their opening week against Washington on Jan. 10th. Both matches will be played at the UH Tennis Comples with first serve slated for 4:00 p.m. HT.

No. 15 California 6, Hawai'i 1
UH Tennis Complex – Honolulu, O'ahu
Jan. 7, 2026
 
Doubles Results – Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1. #55 Timofey Stephanov/Tiago Silva (Cal) def. Timothy Li/Kosuke Nakanishi (UH), 6-2
2. Fryderyk Lechno Wasiutynski (Cal) def. Toa Maeda/Azuma Visaya (UH), 6-4
3. Winston Wooln Lee/Paris Pouatcha (Cal) def. Kent Mueller/Hikaru Takahashi (UH), 7-6 (7-1)
 
Singles Results – Order of Finish: 2, 6, 3, 4, 1, 5
1. Azuma Visaya (UH) def. Fryderyk Lechno Wasiutynski (Cal), 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)
2. Tiago Silva (Cal) def. Kosuke Nakanishi (UH), 6-4, 6-1
3. Timofey Stepanov (Cal) def. Timothy Li (UH), 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
4. Paris Pouatcha (Cal) def. Toa Maeda (UH), 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
5. Winston Wooln Lee (Cal) de. Hikaru Takahashi (UH), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
6. Leonard Cattaneo (Cal) def. Ziwen Ju (UH), 6-3, 6-3