The UCSD men’s tennis team continued its quest for a championship, picking up two wins last weekend. The Tritons first posted a 9-0 shutout of visiting Westmont College, then traveled to Riverside, Calif., and earned an outstanding victory against UC Riverside.
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The Tritons dominated Westmont on Friday, with every UCSD singles and doubles player earning victories without any player losing a match.
The singles winners were Sammer Chopra (6-1, 7-6), Michael Meyer (6-0, 6-1), Bryan Swatt (6-4, 6-1), Jeff Wilson (6-0, 6-1), Blake Wilson-Hayden (6-0, 6-2) and Emil Novak (6-1, 6-1). For the doubles, it was the duos of Chopra/Swatt (8-2), Wilson/Everett Schroeter (8-0), and Meyer/Dan Albrecht (8-2) who continued the Triton momentum in the match.
“”We crushed them,”” Jeff Wilson said. “”It was a very good victory.””
Westmont also rested four starters in the match.
“”It was kind of a slap in the face,”” Wilson said. “”They overlooked us and rested four starters, and we took it to them.””
The victory was the Tritons’ fifth-straight, and it set up a tough road match Saturday at UC Riverside.
The Tritons found the Division I Highlanders to be no problem at all, easily disposing of Riverside 6-1.
In doubles action, Wilson/Schroeter dropped a 6-8 decision to UC Riverside’s No. 1 doubles team, Brent Davis/Walt Hern.
However, the Triton duos of Meyer/Albrecht and Amir Nejad/Swatt swept the final two doubles matches from the Highlanders 8-2 and 8-4, respectively.
In singles play, Wilson-Hayden’s loss to UCR’s Dan Stevens was the only speedbump in the way of UCSD’s momentum; the Tritons swept the five other singles matches.
Playing at No. 1, Meyer easily dispatched Davis 6-1, 6-1. Swatt followed his example with a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 2, and then Wilson struggled a bit against UCR’s Derek Betyar before eventually grabbing a three-set victory, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
After Wilson-Hayden’s loss at the No. 4 spot, Novak and Schroeter closed out the UCSD victory with two double-bagel wins over Paul Choppi and Paul Pantapalangkoor at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively.
This victory marked the sixth-straight for the Tritons and the end of the regular season. UCSD finished the season 18-3 and heads into the playoffs with confidence stemming from its recent success.
“”We have a lot of momentum and we are ready,”” said Sean Higginbotham.
This Triton team is poised for a championship run and is anxious to get the playoffs started. The Tritons have come a long way after a 10-10 record last year.
“”We added a lot more depth this year with quality freshmen,”” Wilson said. “”We also want it more; I can’t wait for the playoffs.””
The NCAA regional playoffs are slated to begin May 3 at a location to be determined.
