The UCSD men’s tennis team was firing on all cylinders when it stretched its win streak to eight by winning three matches this past weekend, two at home and one on the road.
Guardian
The Tritons hosted Western New Mexico and Alliant International in their home opener on Feb. 21. Later that night, the team traveled to Cal Poly Pomona for the second consecutive week and once again defeated the Broncos on Feb. 22.
UCSD squared off first against Western New Mexico, easily crushing it 9-0. The Tritons were clearly in command, sweeping singles and doubles without dropping a set. The doubles pairings of Jeff Wilson and Tomas Novak won 8-3, along with Sean Nagel and Nick Morton, who also won 8-3. Capping off the doubles sweep were Doug Hofmann and Erik Oijala, who finished with a score of 8-1.
“”The first match was easy for us, and we played very well and gave a good effort,”” said Triton head coach Eric Steidlmayer.
In singles, UCSD once again dominated and was clearly “”in the zone”” according to Wilson, who sailed through his singles match 6-1, 6-3. The Tritons continued to wipe out the opposition with victories by Nagel (6-0, 6-1), Hofmann (6-1, 6-1), Oijala (6-1, 6-2), Tomas Novak (6-3, 6-1) and Morton (6-1, 6-1).
UCSD next faced off against cross-town rivals Alliant International and was victorious in yet another one-sided victory at 8-1.
The Tritons swept doubles when the pairings of Sameer Chopra and Bryan Swatt, Wilson and Morton, and Tomas Novak and Nagel easily won against AIU with scores of 8-1, 8-2 and 8-0, respectively.
The only loss came in singles when Meyer fought hard in a tough match and was barely edged out 6-4, 6-3. UCSD wrapped up the victory with singles wins by Emil Novak (6-1, 6-0), Blake Wilson-Hayden (6-2, 6-2), Brent Molden (6-1, 6-1), Amir Nejad (6-1, 6-1) and Minh Tang (6-0, 6-1).
The Tritons hit the road and played a match against Cal Poly Pomona. The team slid past the Broncos 7-2.
Although the team dropped only two matches, there are some questions that need to be addressed. It was not one of UCSD’s better matches, according to Steidlmayer.
“”We have to have a better collective attitude than displayed in this match. We as a whole team need to look at ourselves and ask if we are going to settle for being pretty good …. And we have to answer these questions correctly if we are going to go forward as a team,”” Steidlmayer said on the team Web site.
In doubles, UCSD took two of three when Chopra and Swatt were defeated 8-1, while Wilson and Morton, as well as Meyer and Nagel, rallied past their opponents, winning 8-5, 8-6, respectively.
The Tritons only dropped one match in singles, but then UCSD took the last five with wins by Novak (7-6, 6-3), Wilson-Hayden (2-6, 6-3, 6-0), Swatt (6-1, 6-1), Wilson (3-6, 6-2, 6-0) and Nagel (6-2, 6-4).
“”[Cal Poly Pomona] came out really hungry. Our attitude was not so good, and we were not as focused as we needed to be,”” Swatt said.
Despite needing to address some issues, the Tritons extended their record to 8-1. The Pacific Coast Doubles Championships will be held this weekend, and UCSD will participate, along with UCLA and Stanford.
