University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s tennis player Satsuki Takamura upset a nationally ranked singles opponent and opened the conference with a solid win to earn her first career Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolade.
The sophomore recorded the lone point for the Rainbow Wahine against a top-ranked Stanford squad last week, defeating No. 49 Janice Shin playing at the No. 1 position. Takamura earned a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set win over Shin.
Takamura, who began the week ranked at No. 103 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, notched her second singles win in UH‘s Big West opener against UC Irvine’s Stephanie Nguyen. Takamura, who played at No. 1 against the Anteaters, nearly blanked Nguyen with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph to help propel UH Mānoa to its 6-1 victory. It marked the team’s first dual match win of the season.
As the only Rainbow Wahine with two singles wins that week, Takamura also teamed with Lea Romain, helping the Rainbow Wahine pick up the doubles point in a 6-4 win against the Anteaters.
