IRVINE, Calif. – The University of Hawai`i men's tennis team competed in the second day of the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Tennis Championships at the campus of UC Irvine.

 

Senior Dennis Lajola was the team's standout as he continued his march in the singles bracket and began doubles competition with a win. After an easy opening day victory in the singles, the No. 11 seed Lajola advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Clark Spinosa of San Diego. Lajola will now face No. 3 seed Chris Kearney of host UC Irvine for a spot in the tournament quarterfinals.

 

Meanwhile, No. 17 seed Jeremy Tweedt, who advanced to the round of 32 with a win over Hugh Clarke of Pepperdine on Friday, was eliminated by. No. 10 seed Raymond Sarmiento of USC 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

 

Doubles competition also started on day two with four Rainbow Warrior teams on the court. Lajola and partner David Schuster, a true freshman, received an opening round bye before defeating Alexander Sonesson and Brian McPhee of Cal Poly, 8-3. The pair will now face Clay Thompson and Daniel Kosakowski of UCLA in the round of 16. UH's three other doubles teams did not make it past the round of 32.

 

 Nearly 100 players from a dozen West Coast schools are competing in the five-day tournament which runs through Monday.

 

(10) Raymond Sarmiento (USC) def. (17) Jeremy Tweedt (UH) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

(11) Dennis Lajola (UH) def. (17) Clark Spinosa (USD) 6-4, 6-4

 

Jared Spiker/Daniel Llarenas (UH) def. Andre Feliz/Tim Schulz van Endert (SDSU) 8-5

Jeff Gast/Max Ta Ba Troung (UCLA) def. Chris Meyer/Dmytro Kovalyov (UH) 8-5

 

Clark Spinosa/Thibaut Visy (USD) def.  Tweedt/Jonathan Brooklyn (UH) 8-3

Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney (PEP) def. Jared Spkier/Daniel Llarenas (UH) 8-3

Lajola/David Schuster (UH) def. Alexander Sonesson/Brian McPhee (Cal Poly) 8-3