Razorbacks Kickoff Spring Season in Hawaii
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team travels to Honolulu to open the spring season against the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors on Friday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. CT. The Hogs will also play an exhibition match the day prior versus Hawai’i and Hawai’i Pacific.
The Razorbacks are coming off a busy fall season, having added five new players to the roster. Sophomore Gerard Planelles Ripoll led the team in singles wins (7), with five coming at the ITA All-American Championships. Senior Melvin Manuel advanced to the semifinals at the ITA Central Region Championships while Alan Sau Franco picked up a win over an ITA ranked opponent in the fall.
In doubles, the duos of Manuel/Sau Franco along with freshman Connor Smillie and junior Jake Sweeney made a run to the quarterfinals at the ITA Central Region Championships with Sweeney leading the Hogs with five total victories in the fall.
Hawai’i is coming off an 11-9 season, going 3-3 in Big West play. The Rainbow Warriors opened the 2024 season on Sunday against SMU, dropping the match 7-0. Hawai’i ended its 2023 season in the Big West Tournament, falling to the No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals. The Rainbow Warriors return five players from last year’s team and have just one senior, Guillaum Tattevin, who was a mainstay in the middle of the Hawai’i lineup a year ago. The team returns juniors Karl Collins and Andy Hernandez alongside adding transfer Quinn Snyder. Collins saw limited action in singles, going 4-2 overall, but played consistently in doubles where he recorded 10 wins on the year. Hernandez played primarily at the No. 5 position for the Rainbow Warriors last year while Snyder joins the team after spending three seasons at Central Florida.
Arkansas is 4-0 all-time against Hawai’i, with the most recent match coming in 2008 where the Hogs prevailed 4-3.
Live stats and live video will not be available for the match. Results will be available on the schedule page and at the end of the match on all social media pages.
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