They're making a habit out of this.

Thanks to some consistent play from some mainstays and a huge performance by a newcomer, the Hawaii men's tennis team is in the NCAA tournament for a third straight year.

After their Western Athletic Conference tournament championship over host Fresno State last week, the Rainbow Warriors climbed to No. 37 nationally—a program-best ranking—and will meet No. 21 Pepperdine in the round of 64 tomorrow at 6 a.m. at Stanford.

Host Stanford plays Quinnipiac on the other side of the regional bracket. Should UH match last year's feat of reaching the round of 32, it would play the winner of that matchup.

Though conjuring big wins has become almost expected under WAC coach of the year John Nelson, UH players still get jacked up when reflecting on Tennessee transfer Jeremy Tweedt's thrilling victory at the No. 4 singles court over Fresno in the WAC championship. His comeback win in the third and final set—in which he was a break point away from trailing 5-1—put the 'Bows over the Bulldogs, 4-3, for the league's automatic berth to the NCAAs.

“;Everybody's beatable,”; said Nelson, referring to both the Fresno match and the upcoming rematch with Pepperdine. The Waves knocked UH out in the first round in 2008, when the 'Bows made their debut NCAA appearance.

“;Under pressure, I always feel the undisciplined team breaks down, so I always plan on being more disciplined and coming after them. Whatever happens, happens. We can live with it.”;

The three-peat came in a place UH has rarely found success, replete with hostile Fresno fans surrounding the courts, chanting for their team. They clustered around Tweedt's court when all other matches finished, but steadily got quieter as Tweedt remained poised and his opponent, Tejesvi Veerepalli, succumbed to a combination of pressure and a cramped leg.

“;To make the team win, to win the match coming back 4-1 in front of the whole Fresno team in the final, in the championship, I mean, I couldn't ask for more,”; said Tweedt, a junior from Paris. “;They were pretty loud. I was really not caring at all. I think it actually backfired on the other guy. I think he felt like he had to win for a lot of people. It actually didn't feel like this was hurting me, you know? At the end of the match when I turned back to the crowd and fist pumped, and 5 minutes later everyone was gone.”;

The team's ace, junior Dennis Lajola, branded it “;top two”; in his memories as a UH player, next to the team's WAC championship at home last year. All three of UH's NCAA tournament appearances have come during his three years at UH.

With UH and Fresno deadlocked as regular-season co-champions, Lajola wanted to use the tourney as the tiebreaker.

“;That really motivated us, this proved who was really the WAC champion,”; Lajola said. “;It was really a goal for us to make a statement.”;

With Nelson's trademark hands-off style late in the season, UH is peaking at the right time; Lajola has won six of his last seven singles matches and sophomore Leo Rosenberg went 18-1 in 2010 dual matches at the No. 3 and 4 courts. Andreas Weber, the team's lone senior, hurt his hip in the WAC tournament but felt he will be ready for the Waves at the No. 2 court. Tweedt has won five straight matches at No. 4.

Lajola, ranked No. 113 in the country in singles, likely faces Pepperdine's No. 32 Bassam Beidas, a friend from the junior circuit, while Weber will probably take on No. 70 Sebastian Fanselow in a matchup of familiar foes from Germany.

“;I'm just going to focus on my match, because it's like my last college tournament,”; Weber said. “;So I'm really motivated to finish strong. I actually lost to their guy at the beginning of the season (in three sets in the individual regionals), so I hope I'm going to get my revenge.”;