The stakes were raised for UH-Hilo’s men at the NCAA Division II tennis championships, not to mention the hospitality, but first-year coach Kallen Mizuguchi said the round of 16 wasn’t much different than any regular season match.
Among the knowledge former coach Vulcans coach Kula Oda, now the associate athletic director, passed on to Mizuguchi was a tip about finding the right vantage point to take in six singles matches going on simultaneously.
No matter the view Tuesday, Mizuguchi was going to like what he saw.
Far from home but seemingly closer than ever, UHH routed Bluefield State 4-0 in Alamonte Springs, Fla., using seamless play from Vaclav Slezak, Alessandro Giuliato and Chun En Wu to notch its first Sweet 16 win and advance to the quarterfinals.
“I liked the way the guys competed, it was a really good turnout,” Mizuguchi said. “I tell them all the time, this is the closest team I’ve been apart of. We’re like a second family.
“We’re playing for each other. This is our last trip together.”
He noted nothing came easy for fourth-seeded UHH (14-4) – “that’s not how it works at this level,” Mizuguchi said, but at the same time the Vulcans likely will face a stiffer test at 4 p.m local time Wednesday (10 a.m. in Hawaii) when they meet No. 5 South Carolina-Aiken for a spot in the semifinals.
The Pacers have a ranked player, No. 48 Antonio Sabugueiro, which is not something Bluefield State (15-10) could say, and the sixth-ranked doubled tandem in Sabugueiro and Salvador Bandeira.
Taking the court at high noon on an 86-degree day, the doubles teams of Slezak and Martin Soukal and Giuliato and En Wuboth cruised to 6-2 victories, and Giuliato turned around and made quick work of Frederik Baumadsen on Court 2, losing just one game in a straight-set victory. The sophomore is 14-0 this season in singles play.
“Alessandro took care of business,” Mizuguchi said.
Wu completed a 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles, leaving it the ace, Slesak, to clinch victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
The three other Vulcans, Soukal, Arturo Dell’Eva and Luca Checchia all lost first sets but were working on trying come back when the point became moot.
They were able to stop, celebrate for a bit and relax with a bigger match on the horizon.
“Tomorrow will be much tougher obviously,” Mizuguchi said. “We will get some rest, hydrate and get ready for a very difficult match on Wednesday.”
Aiken advanced with a 4-1 win against No. 12 Drury. The only common opponent between the Pacers and Vuls was Bluefield State. Aiken won its match 4-2 on March 10.
Pacific West Conference champ Hawaii Pacific also reaching the quarterfinals. The third seed dropped No. 14 Southern New Hampshire 4-0.
Wahine winner
Hawaii junior Petra Melounova beating Michigan’s Chiara Lommer 6-4, 6-1 in Orlando, Fla., becoming the firstt Rainbow Wahine to win two matches at NCAA Division I women’s championships and advance to the round of 16.
Melounova, who came in the tournament ranked No. 61 in the ITA rankings, improved to 15-4 with her ninth consecutive win and is the first Big West player to advance to the round of 16 since UC Santa Barbara’s Jean Okada did so in 1996.
On Wednesday, Melounova will take on Texas Tech’s Felicity Maltby, who entered the tournament ranked No. 22.
