UCSanDiego Men’s Tennis
TRITONS SECURE FOUR WINS IN PHOENIX
The UC San Diego men’s tennis team went 4-1 last week at the Paseo Tournament hosted by Grand Canyon University. The Tritons, ranked at No. 35 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll, capped off their impressive showing in Phoenix with a 6-3 win over No. 25 Midwestern State before returning home to La Jolla with an overall record of 4-2. “It was a great finish for the team,” UCSD head coach Eric Steidlmayer said. “I think their confidence was shaken a bit with the loss to BYU-Hawaii a couple days ago but they brought it back today in a big way with the win over a tough Midwestern squad.” With UCSD playing five matches in a span of three days at the tournament, Steidlmayer juggled the team’s lineup throughout the competition to keep everyone fresh. The squad showed its depth of talent as all 10 players on the UCSD roster that played in Phoenix recorded at least one win on the trip.
ELLIOTT KEEPS FIRING AT NO. 1 SINGLES
Junior Erik Elliott, a San Juan Capistrano native, continues to excel at the No. 1 singles position for the Tritons this season. A day after topping BYU-Hawaii’s Rong Ma, ranked at No. 10 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason poll, Elliott took down WNMU junior and 24th-ranked Yair Banuelos, 6-4, 6-4, on Saturday. A day later, Elliott defeated Midwestern State’s Bo Ziputovic to improve to 4-0 overall on the young season. “Out of the wins [Saturday], Erik’s probably stands out the most,” UCSD head coach Eric Steidlmayer said. “He’s been playing unbelievable out there and to top Ma [Friday] and then defeat Yair Banuelos [Saturday] in straight sets, that’s impressive.”
NGUYEN’S FIVE VICTORIES LEADS TEAM
Junior captain Vincent Nguyen, playing mostly out of the squad’s No. 4 singles position, leads the Tritons in wins with five through the early stages of the 2010 season. The San Jose native was honored in 2009 with the ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS OF APU
Friday’s match between UCSD and Azusa Pacific is a rescheduled contest from earlier in the year when rain put a damper on the squads’ chances of playing. The two teams last played each other on Feb. 2, 2008, when the Cougars came away with an 8-1 victory. In 2010, APU holds a record of 1-1 after topping Loyola Marymount 6-3 in the season opener and then dropping a 5-4 decision to Hawaii Pacific. The Cougars, a regular NAIA powerhouse, advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s national tournament.
1/30
January
at Univ. of San Diego
Exhibition
February
2/1 2/12 2/12 2/13 2/14 2/14 2/19 2/26 2/27
vs. Concordia L, 3-6 vs. Grand Canyon # W, 8-1 vs. BYU Hawaii # L, 4-5 vs. Western New Mexico # W, 7-2 vs. Montana St. Billings # W, 8-1 vs. Midwestern State # W, 6-3 at Azusa Pacific 2 p.m. vs. Fresno Pacific 3 p.m. at UC Riverside 12 p.m.
3/1 3/2 3/4-7 3/8 3/10 3/12 3/13 3/22 3/24
vs. Villanova vs. Cal Poly Pomona Pacific Coast Doubles vs. Rollins College vs. Western New Mexico vs. Sonoma State vs. Hawaii Hilo vs. Dartmouth College at BYU Hawaii
4/6 4/9 4/10 4/11 4/15
at Point Loma Nazarene at UC Davis at UC Santa Cruz at Sonoma State at Cal Poly Pomona
March
April
May
5/8-10 NCAA West Regional 5/14-17 NCAA Championships
2 p.m. 2 p.m. All Day 2 p.m. 3 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 12 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 9:30 a.m. 11 a.m. 1:30 p.m. TBA TBA
Home matches at Northview Tennis Courts # Paseo Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.
2010 UC San Diego Roster Name Class Hometown Agbayani, Ryan R-Fr. Yorba Linda, Calif. Atlan, Justin Fr. Pacific Palisades, Calif. Chan, Chapman So. Westlake Village, Calif. Dixit, Naveen So. Los Altos Hills, Calif. Elliott, Erik Jr. San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Emami, Armaun Jr. Oxnard, Calif. Fellow, Jake So. Poway, Calif. Ling, Sam So. Los Altos, Calif. Mendonsa, Eric So. Corona, Calif. Nguyen, Vincent Jr. San Jose, Calif. Wall, Jason Jr. Long Beach, Calif. West, Austin R-Fr. Greenwood Village, Colo. Yoshida, Junya Fr. Irvine, Calif.
Match 7
UC San Diego (4-2) at Azusa Pacific (1-1) Friday, Feb. 19 2 p.m.