WINTER PARK, Fla. – The No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific University men opened their Florida trip on a positive note as in defeating No. 26 Rollins 4-2 on Thursday afternoon at the Bert Martin Tennis Complex.
 
The seventh ranked Sharks (11-1) beat back not only the 26th rated Tars (7-8), but also battled through some illness.
 
HPU won the doubles point as the Sharks 16th ranked duo of Jordi Walder and Jan Pleva downed 17th ranked Efe Comu/Mikkel Baumann 6-4 at No. 1, and Benjamin Loccisano and Jan Heine dispatched Phillip McMurray and Charlie Putrino 6-3 at No. 3. The second position between 47th ranked Jakub Beran and Robin Sanz against Andrea Brignacca and Denis Golubev was tied at 6-6 when the point was determined.
 
The Tars tied the match at 1-1 when Heine retired because of illness at No. 5 with RC's Baumann up 6-2, 2-0. But the Sharks retook the lead at 2-1 when Loccisano won at No. 4 against Putrino 6-2, 6-2. Rollins retied the contest at 2-2 when Come defeated Pleva 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2, only to have HPU catch a break when Ryohei Arai accepted the retirement of McMurray at No. 6. Arai was up 5-4 in the second set after falling 7-5 in the first to McMurry when the Tar couldn't continue.
 
The Sharks won the match at No. 3 when 61st ranked Sanz battled through to beat Brignacca 7-5, 7-6 taking the second set tiebreaker 7-4 to win the match.
 
The powerful No. 1 singles went unfinished, with second ranked Walder and third ranked Golubev split 7-5, 2-6 and Golubev up 3-2 when the match ended.
 
The road doesn't get any easier for the No. 7 Sharks, as they face three top eight programs on neutral ground at the site of the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships, Sanlando Park in the Orlando suburb of Altamonte Springs. HPU faces No. 2 Barry on Friday at 6 a.m. HST (Noon EDT), then No. 3 Saint Leo on Saturday at 6 a.m. HST (Noon EDT) and No. 8 West Florida on Sunday at 6 a.m. HST (Noon EDT).