HONOLULU – UC San Diego women's tennis was a 5-2 winner at Hawai'i Pacific Friday morning in the first of two matches on O'ahu. The win was the Tritons' fifth in their last six matches. The Sharks have dropped two straight.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UC San Diego 5, Hawai'i Pacific 2
Records: UC San Diego 6-5; Hawai'I Pacific 1-6
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
HPU won the doubles point thanks to wins on courts two and three. The Sharks got things started with a 6-4 win at No. 3. The Tritons were successful in the top spot, with captain Julia Haynes and senior Naomi Nguyen earning a tidy 6-2 win at No. 1. Hawai'i Pacific took a 1-0 lead in the match with an impressive 7-5 win at No. 2.
 
In singles play, UC San Diego won four straight matches to earn the comeback victory. Captain Kaitlyn Vu was a quick 6-0, 6-3 winner at No. 6, tying the match at 1-1. When junior Grace Gamal won 6-1, 6-4 on court four, the Tritons went on top, 2-1. Freshman Allison Lian stretched her team's lead to 3-1 with her straight sets, 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 3. Haynes sealed the win for UC San Diego with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at first singles.
 
With the match already in hand, senior Adriana Tabares was a 7-6 (3), 6-1 winner at No. 5 for the Tritons.
 
TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
Hawai'i Pacific vs. UC San Diego
Feb. 28, 2025 at Honolulu, Hawai'i
(Kailua Racquet Club)
 
UC San Diego 5, Hawai'i Pacific 2
 
Singles competition
1. Julia Haynes (UCSD) def. Evi Roobol (HPU), 6-2, 6-2
2. Sayda Hernandez (HPU) def. Kelly Leung (UCSD), 5-7, 7-6 (8), 10-8
3. Allison Lian (UCSD) def. Jayanne Palma (HPU), 6-2, 6-1
4. Grace Gamal (UCSD) def. Annika Hakovirta (HPU), 6-1, 6-4
5. Adriana Tabares (UCSD) def. Rosa Viller Moller (HPU), 7-6 (3), 6-1
6. Katelyn Vu (UCSD) def. Lynn Kader (HPU), 6-0, 6-3
 
Doubles competition
1. Julia Haynes/Naomi Nguyen (UCSD) def. Emily Castillo/Evi Roobol (HPU), 6-2
2. Annika Hakovirta/Sayda Hernandez (HPU) def. Kelly Leung/Adriana Tabares (UCSD), 7-5
3. Jayanne Palma/Lynn Kader (HPU) def. Grace Gamal/Katelyn Vu (UCSD), 6-4
 
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,4,3,1,5,2)
 
QUOTABLE
"We were a little flat in doubles play and got burned," said UC San Diego head coach Sebastian Bader. "Fortunately, we were able to successfully change that midway through the first set of singles. It was a good match in tricky conditions to prep us mentally and physically for a tough UH squad tomorrow."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The win was UC San Diego's first road victory of the spring.
• Julia Haynes improved to 8-2 in singles action this spring – all from the first position.
• Katelyn Vu won her sixth singles match in 2025. She's posted 27 wins at UC San Diego and holds the top spot for career singles wins in the team's Division I record book.
• Competing at No. 1, Naomi Nguyen earned her 37th doubles win as a Triton – more than anyone else in the program's Division I era.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons resume Big West action Saturday morning at Hawai'i. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. PT (11 a.m. local in Hawai'i). UC San Diego is 2-1 in conference play; the Rainbow Wahine are 2-0.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.