When most of us think of a weekend road trip, we think of heading to Las Vegas or maybe Palm Springs, Calif. The Triton men’s tennis team, however, had a much different sort of road trip last weekend.
On Friday, the Tritons traveled to UC Santa Cruz to take on the Banana Slugs. From there, they moved north to battle with their league foes, the UC Davis Aggies. For good measure, they went to Sonoma, Calif. on Monday for a confrontation with Sonoma State University.
For all of their travels, the Tritons were awarded with one victory but were also handed two defeats.
The Tritons knew that the Santa Cruz match would be difficult. The Banana Slugs were the Tritons’ old rivals from Division III and usually got the better of UCSD. The same was true this time around: The Tritons gave it their best effort but ended up with a 2-5 loss.
The highlights for the Tritons came at No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles. At No. 2 doubles, Mike Meyer and Sameer Chopra pulled out a close 9-7 victory over their Banana Slug opponents.
At No. 3 singles, Jeff Wilson took out his opponent in three sets. After losing the first set 2-6, Wilson rallied to win the next two 6-4, 6-1.
Davis was another match that the Tritons would have to play inspired tennis to win. The Aggies are clearly the best of the California Collegiate Athletic Association this year and showed it with their 6-3 victory over UCSD. Again, Meyer and Chopra were solid in doubles as they thoroughly dismantled their opponents 8-1 at No. 2. Unfortunately, that was the only doubles match the Tritons won.
In singles, Wilson again won a three-set match at No. 3 after losing the first set. Chopra also won his match by winning two tie-breakers 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 at No. 2 singles.
On a losing streak and licking their wounds, the Tritons headed into their match against Sonoma State on Monday, hoping to end their road trip on a winning streak. They did just that with a 6-3 victory that got their record back to 8-8 for the year.
In doubles, the Tritons were victorious in two of the three prosets and were very close to sweeping. At No. 1 doubles, Cory Moderhak and Wilson took their match to 7-7 before losing 9-7 against Sonoma’s strongest team. Meyer and Chopra finished off their undefeated weekend in doubles with an 8-1 win at No. 2
Dan Albrecht and Everett Schroeter teamed up at No. 3 doubles to put the hurt to Sonoma’s team of Kevin Harrigan and J.C. Arzaga, 8-1.
In singles, the Tritons were equally impressive, winning four of the six matches. Chopra won a tight three-set match at No. 2 singles and Wilson ran his record to 6-0, by far the best on the squad during the road trip, with a straight sets win at No. 3.
Amir Nejad won two tight sets at No. 5 to take his match 7-5, 7-6. Schroeter finished off his perfect afternoon with a relatively easy 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6.
The Tritons have only one more match — an away match at Point Loma Nazarene — before they go into NCAA Division II regionals on the weekend of May 4-6. With a good performance there, UCSD could move on to nationals the following week. Good luck, Tritons.
