The University of Hawai’i men’s tennis team began their Big West Conference season with a 4-0 victory over UC Riverside on Thursday. The match, held at the SRC Tennis Courts in Riverside, California, had been postponed from Wednesday due to bad weather.
Hawai’i secured the doubles point by winning matches on courts two and three. The No. 2 pair, Azuma Visaya and Toa Maeda, defeated Owen Pearson and Lucas Mszyca 6-3. Kent Mueller and Adriano Dzhenev then won a close match against Andrew Lavine and Jovan Pedroza 7-5 on court three.
In singles play, the Rainbow Warriors clinched the win by taking the first three completed matches. On court one, Azuma Visaya beat Lucas Ibarrondo Suarez in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Timothy Li earned his first singles win of the season with a similar scoreline over Ivaylo Simeonov on court two. Kent Mueller remained undefeated in singles this year after defeating Owen Pearson 6-0, 6-4 on court four.
The remaining singles matches were unfinished when Hawai’i reached four points to secure the team victory.
The Rainbow Warriors will continue their road trip with a dual match against Northern Arizona on Saturday at the GCU Tennis Facility in Phoenix.
