honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 29, 2009

UH men will open with Oklahoma State

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

John Nelson

spacer spacer

Fresh off winning its second straight Western Athletic Conference championship with an upset of 20th-ranked Boise State Sunday, the University of Hawai'i men's tennis team will face another 20th-ranked team May 8 in the NCAA Championship.

The Rainbows earned the WAC's bid by upsetting 41st-ranked Fresno State and BSU last weekend in Manoa. It is the second year in a row the 'Bows had gone into the conference tournament seeded third and upset those teams to win the title.

Hawai'i (10-9), which has won five of its last six, moved up to a program-high 49th in this week's rankings and will face 20th-ranked Oklahoma State at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. If the 'Bows win the first-round match, they play the winner of seventh-ranked UCLA (17-4) and Southern Illinois (18-6) the next day.

The 16 subregional champs advance to the final week, May 14 to 19 at College Station, Texas.

Hawai'i lost to 13th-ranked Pepperdine last year in its NCAA debut.

"We're really looking forward to this," UH coach John Nelson said. "Oklahoma State is a very good team and we'll have to be ready. We played at UCLA earlier this year so we're used to the courts and that's an advantage. We've still got a lot to improve on, and we'll get right back to work to prepare for next week."

Oklahoma State (14-7) gained an at-large bid after falling to No. 6 Baylor in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. The Cowboys boast the No. 2 ranked singles player in the nation in Oleksandr Nedovyesov. The junior All-American was ranked No. 1 in March.

The Rainbows are led by first-team all-conference selection Dennis Lajola and second-teamers Sascha Heinemann and Andreas Weber. They have combined to go 34-15, with 12 straight wins by Heinemann, one of two UH seniors.

"I was really proud of the guys for winning the WAC again," Nelson said. "We set our goal early on and we never lost sight of that. Last year was our first time in the NCAAs. We've returned everyone this year, the expectations are higher and we know we can win."

Boise State, the WAC champion from 2003 to 2007, received an at-large bid and will play Middle Tennessee at 14th-ranked Alabama. The Broncos dropped to 25th in this week's ranking.

UCLA captured its sixth straight Pac-10 championship this year and beat the 'Bows, 6-1, in Los Angles on March 11. Southern Illinois won the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time in 19 years.