Men's Tennis

Sharks are slight favorite over the Cougars in men's tennis, with Vulcans and Sea Lions in the hunt

Hawai`i Pacific gets the coach's vote as the preseason favorite, although defending champ APU is right there. Hawai`i Hilo and Point Loma also earned a first place vote in what promises to be a competitive 2024 campaign

You probably don’t need a poll to tell you that the Pacific West Conference men’s tennis coaches would think that Azusa Pacific or Hawai`i Pacific will win the 2024 conference title in Surprise, Arizona.

After all, in the last ten years Hawai`i Pacific has won six titles and Azusa Pacific has captured three. The Cougars have won the last two and have been to eight straight NCAA tournaments. The Sharks have been to the postseason in 15 of the last 16 years.

So, the only service a poll rendered useful was which team wins the title this year?

Hawai`i Pacific and Azusa Pacific both received four first place votes, but the Sharks edged the Cougars with 92 poll points to 82 for the honor of being the preseason favorite.

The one team to break that monopoly of winning a title in the last ten years is Hawai`i Hilo (2021), and they landed in the third poll spot with 78 points. Point Loma is next with 75 points, and both the Vulcans and Sea Lions had one first place vote and are solid contenders to unseat the Sharks or Cougars.

All that’s left is first serve, and that will happen this weekend for eight of the ten conference teams. Hawai`i Pacific and Hawai`i Hilo will wait until Feb. 16-17 to play each other on Oahu. To see the complete 2024 schedule, click here.

Azusa Pacific, winners of the last two conference championships, returns five players from the 2023 team but they also lost their top players in Leyton Bohren and Marko Nikoliuk. Bohren was the MVP of the 2022 and 2023 PacWest tournaments and Nikoliuk played No. 2 for the champion Cougars.

But head coach Mark Bohren has the returning services of Elias Emilio Walter (16-5, 11-3 at No. 3), Miha Velicki (13-8, 11-5 at No. 4), Brody Bohren (7-11, 4-4 at No. 6), and Cole Rassner (7-3, 5-1 at No. 5). Coach Bohren, in his 29th season with a career mark of 565-158, has added Boston University transfer Max Schmidhauser and three freshmen to bolster the ranks. In the latest ITA Fall (2023) rankings, Walter and Velicki are the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the west region, with Walter listing No. 6 in singles and Velicki No. 9.

Hawai`i Pacific has a bigger returning cast than the Cougars. The Sharks lost just one starter to graduation (Benjamin Loccisano) but return Robin Sanz (No.1, 13-3), Jakub Beran (No.1/2/3, 11-9), Mile Matic (No. 4/5, 11-5), and Riku Ogasawara (No.4/5/6, 12-5). Additionally, head coach Hendrik Bode added two talented Germans in Jim Walder and Lennard Richter along with Czech Republic player Adam Vasir. Matic is ranked fifth in the ITA west region poll, and Beran and Walter are fourth regionally in doubles. Despite not winning the PacWest title the past two seasons, the Sharks were able to reach the NCAA Quarterfinals each year. Bode’s team reached the semifinals in 2019 and were national champs in 2016.
 
Hawai`i Hilo, conference champs in 2021, appear ready to challenge for that spot again. They return four starters in Agustin Gentile (2023 All-PacWest Third Team), Luca Matheiowetz (2022 All-PacWest Third Team), Filippo Di Perna, and Coby Pearce. But the biggest gain for head coach Kallen Mizuguchi came via the transfer route, most notably Ryo Minakata. The former Boise State player reached the semifinals of the ITA West Region tournament and comes into the season ranked fourth in the region. Cian McDonnell also earned a region ranking (9th) based on three standout seasons at North Dakota. Other transfers that quickly help the Vulcans contend are Lamar Bartley (Valdosta State), Jaime Paquet (Tennessee Tech), Jacob Gailey (Shorter), and Yu Jhe Du (Western New Mexico).
 
Point Loma has the region’s top returning player in Alexander Leischner. Just a junior, the German was the PacWest Player of the Year in 2023 with a singles record of 18-3 and a doubles mark of 15-5. He reached the championship match of the Fall ITA. He comes into 2024 as the top ranked player in the west region and lists at No. 8 nationally. Head coach Curt Wheeler also returns Andrew Suver (No. 4, 10-7), David Strassburger (No. 5, 11-9), and Nabeel Khan (No. 6 / 10-4). Leischner and Khan come into the season ranked second in the west in doubles and 14th nationally. The Sea Lions finished 18-4 last year in duel matches and went to the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history.
 
Biola checks in at the No. 5 spot in the poll. The Eagles may have the top transfer in the conference, at least in terms of 2023-24 accomplishments. Nico Ramirez defeated Leischner last fall in the ITA west region final, in a thriller that went the distance with the Lee University transfer taking the third (pro set), 10-8. Ramirez, who played parts of four seasons for the nationally ranked Flames, is ranked second in the region and 14th nationally. That helps head coach David Goodman overcome the loss of four starters. Goodman does have the return of Adrian Solorzano, who went 15-4 last season mostly at No. 2, and Callen Hein (No. 6, 7-6). 
 
Concordia is next at No. 6, and they also have a very talented transfer to bolster their ranks. Mattis Le Montagne was an all-conference player three seasons at Cumberlands, and was a First Team NAIA All-American last year. He was 22-3 in 2023, and has made the transition nicely to Concordia already by reaching the semifinals of the ITA West Regional. He comes into 2024 ranked third in the region and 33rd nationally. New head coach Ellie Johnson can also welcome back Alex Edmonston, Mike Jansen, James Caddies, Leon Czarnikau, Adam Large, Adrian D'Aoust, and Tim Nutz. The Golden Eagles, 10-8, made its first-ever NCAA regional tournament last year.
 
MSU Denver is the seventh team in the poll after a strong 2023 season (15-5). New head coach Bruno Campos has the three Roadrunners back from a year ago in Jeanloup Auzias (No. 1, 17-5), Juho Kantola (No. 2, 19-6), and Alejandro Jimenez (No. 3, 17-7). Kantola is ranked seventh in the west region. Transfer Marco Jalalian (Tusculum) will add to the mix. Fresno Pacific is No. 8, but could challenge higher for head coach Sam Gaeddert with five of their top six players returning in Brodie Sodersten, Ben Cronau (Third Team All PacWest), Martin Ramirez, Sven Bangert, and Gregor Kliimask.
 
Colorado Mesa is ninth under veteran head coach Dan McDonald. The Mavericks return a solid cast in Jorge Abreu (No. 1-4; 11-12, 9-10 in duals), Emil Hultman (No. 3; 8-12, 5-10 in duals), William Leschig (No. 1/2; 12-10, 9-10 in duals), Diogo Manzano (No. 4-6; 9-7; 8-5 in duals), and Henry Scheck (No. 5/6; 14-4; 12-1 in duals). Newcomer Westmont rounds out the poll. Former head coach Chris Elwood returns to coach the Warriors who went 10-10 in NAIA play last year. Two of the top players from 2023 are back in Logan Thompson (No. 1, 8-10), Ethan Ha (No.3, 8-11), and Ottawa (Ariz.) transfer Goor Adiv, who played No. 1 last year as a freshman, will help as well.
 
The PacWest teams do not play an official conference schedule, but many of the top teams will face off against each other before the PacWest Championships (April 18-20) in Surprise, Arizona. Only the top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the tournament as determined by the PacWest selection committee, meaning teams will have to play their way into earning a berth.