University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa men’s tennis player Axel Labrunie earned his first Big West Player of the Week award after helping lead the Rainbow Warriors to four-straight wins on the road in Las Vegas, January 27–29. Labrunie recorded a perfect 4-0 record in doubles with partner Kilian Maitre, while going 2-0 in singles.
UH‘s No. 2 doubles pairing of Labrunie and Maitre mowed through their opponents last week. The duo began the week with a 6-2 win over host University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s (UNLV) Anton Ornberg and Jackson Atherton, and then blanked University of California, Riverside’s Daniel Velek and Ryan Huynh, 6-0 to complete their Friday doubleheader. Labrunie and Maitre followed with a 6-2 victory over Weber State University’s Jordan Coutinho and William Zulch.
Against New Mexico State, Labrunie clinched both the doubles point and later the match. Labrunie and Maitre edged out New Mexico State’s Corey Clarke and Roko Stipetic in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (5) to capture the doubles point as UH took a 1-0 lead. Playing on the No. 2 court, Labrunie then defeated New Mexico State University’s Jordy Visser in straight sets to seal the win, 6-4, 6-2. Labrunie’s other singles win was a 6-1, 6-3 victory over UNLV‘s Dabic Milos at No. 2.
After starting the season 0-3 against high-powered teams, UH swung the momentum pendulum completely in the opposite direction, winning all four matches last week to record an overall record of 4-3.
