The University of Hawai’i men’s tennis team secured its first win of the 2026 season with a narrow 4-3 victory over Gonzaga on Friday at the UH Tennis Complex in Honolulu. This result brings the Rainbow Warriors to an even record of 1-1, while Gonzaga falls to 0-2.
Hawai’i began by capturing the doubles point. The pairing of Toa Maeda and Azuma Visaya defeated Nicholas Reeves and Oscar Rashed from Gonzaga, 6-4, on court two. On court three, freshmen Kent Mueller and Hikaru Takahashi clinched the doubles point for Hawai’i by overcoming Gus Krauel and Diego Herrera, 6-3. The No. 1 doubles match between Timothy Li/Kosuke Nakanishi (UH) and Giovanni Branchetti/Jay Fairclough (Gonzaga) was left unfinished with Hawai’i leading 5-4.
In singles play, Azuma Visaya gave Hawai’i an early boost by winning his match against Branchetti in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Visaya’s performance marked his second consecutive singles victory this year. Timothy Li took the first set against Oscar Rashed but lost in three sets as Rashed rallied back for Gonzaga (2-6, 6-1, 6-2). On court six, Takahashi recovered from losing the first set to defeat Herrera (1-6, 6-3, 6-1), extending Hawai’i’s lead to 3-1.
Gonzaga responded with wins on courts four and two as Nicholas Reeves beat Toa Maeda (7-6 [7-4], 3-6, 6-2) and Jay Fairclough overcame Kosuke Nakanishi (4-6, 7-5, 6-4), tying the overall score at three apiece.
The deciding match came down to Kent Mueller on court five. After dropping a close first-set tiebreaker against Tom Dunlop (6–7 [6–8]), Mueller came back strong to win the next two sets (6–4, 6–1). He quickly built a commanding lead in the final set before securing the match for Hawai’i.
The Rainbow Warriors are scheduled for a quick turnaround as they will host Washington for their third dual match within four days. The contest is set for Saturday, January 10th at the UH Tennis Complex.
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