Two University of Hawaii tennis teams accustomed to throwing some unhittable curves at conference championships will introduce themselves to the Big West tournament this weekend at Indian Wells, Calif.

The Rainbows men’s team was not on anyone’s radar when it won the 2008 Western Athletic Conference championship. More shocking, the Rainbows three-peated, with Dennis Lajola an integral part of each championship team.

Last year, the Rainbow Wahine found their mojo in their final WAC tournament appearance, claiming the program’s first championship as they won all three matches by a 4-3 score while bidding aloha.

Now both teams are in a conference where almost every team has thrown many curves all season, hittable or not.

UH men’s coach John Nelson figures five of the Big West’s seven teams have a legitimate shot at this year’s title.

Wahine coach Jun Hernandez cannot narrow it down that much.

"I would say teams from two to nine can beat each other," Hernandez said. "And No. 1 (UC Irvine), we beat them last year as well. Maybe just one team is weaker and the others beat up on each other. The WAC was different. The three or four schools on top were really good and the bottom was not as strong."

Hawaii is now notorious for collecting unimposing records against very imposing, almost-always ranked, opponents.

The Rainbows are 7-12 going into their first match today, and seeded fourth. They open against fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara, the team they beat in their last match. It took a heart-stopping win by lone senior Dmytro Kovalyov in the final match — he won a third-set tiebreaker 9-7 — to do it after 41⁄2 hours.

Today’s winner gets top-seeded Irvine on Friday. The Anteaters have won 14 Big West championships, but Hawaii beat them easily three months ago.

The Wahine are 5-11 as they open their first tournament in a new conference that has been dominated by Long Beach State and UC Irvine. Those teams have met in the past five finals. The 49ers have won eight of the past nine Big West titles.

Hawaii has its one (conference title), and senior Katarina Poljakova leads the way this season. The Wahine are also seeded fourth and face No. 5 Fullerton Friday morning. Two months ago, the Titans edged UH in Fullerton, taking the decisive match 7-5 in the third set.

"It’s a big challenge," Hernandez said. "The thing is, we’ve got to play well in doubles and win that point. That’s a big key for us. That puts us in position to play smart and aggressive."

He characterizes his team as "resilient" in the face of a season full of 4-3 losses. The players take their cue from Poljakova, a senior from Slovakia who is in her second year as captain. She has earned first-team all-conference honors in singles and doubles in her career and had straight-set wins over two ranked players on the No. 1 court in February.

"We are definitely going to miss her," Hernandez said. "She’s a great competitor, a great leader. You always miss someone who is really dedicated and passionate about the game. I know she will be successful after she’s done at UH."

Nelson has the same sense about Kovalyov, who is from Ukraine and has won six of his past eight. Teammate Nils Schuhmann, a sophomore from Germany, has the team’s best record (12-5).

David Schuster, a junior from Washington, might be the guy voted most likely to succeed. A member of the Air Force ROTC, he was just accepted into flight school.

"They have all continued to improve during the year, gotten better as a team …," Nelson said. "This is a good team."