2015 Tennis Release No. 3
Newcomers to the Hawai‘i men's and UC Davis women's squads captured Big West Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades.
Wehnelt Helps Power Rainbow Warriors To Sweep Of Pacific
Sophomore Kai Wehnelt (Berlin, Germany/Schiller Gymnasium) helped Hawai‘i edge Pacific twice as the recipient of Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades.
Wehnelt and partner Marcel Chan clinched the doubles point each time against the Tigers, which proved to be important with UH winning both matches by a 4-3 score. On Saturday, Wehnelt and Chan defeated Alex Giannini and Marlon Brand in a 7-6 thriller which went 7-3 in the tiebreaker. In Sunday’s match, the duo moved up to No. 1 doubles and stopped Sem Verbeek and Alex Hamilton, 6-3.
Wehnelt won his first singles match at UH, taking care of Verbeek on the No. 2 court, 7-5, 6-3. The two had a rematch the next day at No. 1 singles, with Verbeek repaying the favor and winning 6-4, 6-2.
Others nominated: None
Green Posts 2-0 Record In Singles For UC Davis
UC Davis freshman Lani-Rae Green (Kekaha, Hawai‘i/Waimea HS) notched her first singles and doubles victories as an Aggie, securing Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
Playing No. 3 singles, Green outlasted Portland State’s Elena-Sabina Preda in a marathon duel, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-1, to help the Aggies win the match, 6-1. She also knocked off Portland’s Jelena Lazarevic by a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 score in her second three-set match of the weekend.
Green split a pair of doubles matches with partner Tiffany Pham at the No. 2 spot. Against the Vikings, the Aggie tandem defeated Ayaka Terakawa and Siena Peri, 7-5, to clinch the doubles point.
Others nominated: Molly Reed (Cal Poly); Vivien Dvali (UC Irvine); Jaimee Gilbertson (UC Santa Barbara)