Cal Poly Men’s Tennis fell in comeback fashion to Hawaii in the first round of the Big West Tournament on Friday, April 28 in San Diego.
The No. 5 seeded Mustangs (7-12 2-4 Big West) got out to a lead against the No. 4 seed Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (11-8 3-3 Big West), but couldn’t close out the win.
The momentum was in favor of the Mustangs early on, as they took two of the doubles matches to award the overall doubles point to Cal Poly.
Redshirt junior Fernando Fonseca and junior Noah Berry were on the board first, cruising to a 6-3 win at court No. 2.
The Rainbow Warriors then evened the score at one apiece, resulting in some early drama at the No. 1 line.
Sophomore Bastiaan Weststrate and redshirt junior Colter Smith came through in a tight 7-6 (7-4) tiebreak, cashing in an early 1-0 advantage for the Mustangs.
Fonseca stayed hot, winning at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-1 to put Cal Poly up 2-0. Fonseca finished his season at 7-7 on the year, winning five of his last seven matches.
The Mustangs had their final win of the season come from junior Carter Crookston, who took down his opponent at line No. 5, 6-4, 6-1.
Hawaii then took the final three matches in dramatic three-set fashion, sending the Mustangs home with a 4-3.
The No. 107-ranked Berry (11-6) ended his third season with a loss to Hawaii’s Andre Illagan, the 74th-ranked player in the nation.
Cal Poly will now turn its attention to the offseason after back-to-back first-round exits in the conference tournament.