The Hawaii Hilo men’s tennis team beat Concordia (N.Y.) 4-2 in Tuesday’s quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II championships in Surprise, Ariz.
The fifth-seeded Vulcans (11-2) advance to play top-seeded Columbus State (22-0) in today’s semifinals.
Hilo started the dual match by winning the doubles point against fourth-seeded Concordia and got wins from Martin Soukal and Alessio Demichelis at No. 1 and No. 2 singles for a 3-0 lead. Soukal won 6-2, 6-2 over Tobias Lentz and Demichelis beat Henry Masters 7-5, 6-4.
Concordia then picked up three-set wins at No. 5 and No. 4 singles to cut the deficit to 3-2. Hilo’s Joshua Liu clinched the match with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Oskar Irdoja at No. 6 singles.
The Hawaii Pacific women start play in today’s quarterfinals against Columbus State.
4 Hawaii players on U.S. volleyball roster
Four volleyball players with Hawaii ties were named to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s roster on Tuesday in advance of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in Italy.
Taylor Averill (University of Hawaii), Micah Christenson (Kamehameha), Erik Shoji (Punahou) and Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani) are on the 19-player roster for the tournament scheduled for May 28 to June 27 in Rimini, Italy. The preliminary round is broken up into five three-match segments, with 14 players selected for each. The semifinals are June 26 and the final set for the following day.
The VNL will be the team’s only official competition prior to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in July.
The U.S. men won a bronze medal in the event in 2018 and the silver in 2019. The event was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Surfers await better weather at Rottnest
For the second consecutive day, the Rottnest Search, the final event of the Australian Leg of the World Surf League Championship Tour, will be called off due to weather conditions at Strickland Bay. Event organizers will reassess the conditions and decide if the event can continue Thursday morning.
When the event continues, Wailua, Kauai’s Malia Manuel will kick off the women’s round of 16 with the opening heat against Carolina Marks.
Later in the day, Heat 5 of the women’s bracket will see Honolulu’s Carissa Moore facing off with Mia McCarthy for the right to advance to the round of 32.
On the men’s side, Honolulu’s Seth Moniz takes on Australian Jack Robinson in the sixth heat of the men’s round of 32.
