PO‘IPU — The No. 2 teams from Waipahu High School took the boys and girls divisions of the preseason doubles tennis match that played at Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts on Sunday.
In the boys finals, the Waipahu duo of AJ Santa Cruz and Aaron Saito, seeded No. 2 for the tournament, beat the top seeded team of Dillon Fulks and Jaysen Muramaru, 7-5, 6-4.
For the girls, the Waipahu pair of Jazlyn Yamada and Sarah Magdato, earning the No. 2 seed for the tournament, defeated the Kaua‘i High School duo of Savannah and Maddison Hubbard, 6-0, 7-5.
“I’m thankful this tournament all worked out and 18 main draw matches were played along with nine back draw matches, and many exhibition matches with developing players,” said Jennifer Hreljac, the Kaua‘i High School tennis coach who organized the preseason tournament. “All players, despite the rain delays on Saturday, were able to play at least two matches by Sunday.”
Hreljac said the tournament was put together to expose the players, many participating in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation program, to other teams they don’t normally get to play against. During the state tournament in 2021, Hreljac met Waiaphu High School coach Denise Yamada, who has ties to Kaua‘i, and the seed for the tournament was planted.
“The high school tournament was made up of any high school age student, and the invitation was received islandwide,” Hreljac said. “We even had 12 students fly over from O‘ahu representing Waipahu High School. The depth of talent in the various schools is very exciting.”
“It was amazing we were able to get such a great turnout with players representing so many schools,” Hreljac said. “A big mahalo goes out to Po‘ipu Kai Tennis Club to accommodate our 46 players for the weekend. A special thanks goes out to the Kaua‘i Community Tennis Association, who donated $500 to Kaua‘i High and, I believe, the other Kaua‘i schools again this year. Additionally, thank you to Domino’s Pizza, who supplied pizzas for the players on both Saturday and Sunday.”
The KIF tennis season starts March 4.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
