After making an unprecedented jump into the top five of the Division II national rankings, the UCSD men’s tennis team hit a bit of a skid, losing its third consecutive match on April 4 to Division I Fresno State, 6-1, but it bounced back and swept Cal Poly Pomona on April 6, 9-0, in a crucial Division II match.
Fresno State defeated the Tritons, 6-1, with the lone UCSD point coming from senior Jeff Wilson’s win against Jakub Cech at No. 3 singles. Junior Bryan Swatt and senior Amir Nejad paired up to win at No. 1 doubles, but because Division I rules only allow for a point awarded in doubles to the team taking at least two of three matches, UCSD was not credited the doubles point. Next, the Bulldogs proceeded to sweep singles, handing the Tritons their ninth loss of the season.
UCSD has played seven matches thus far against Division I schools and is currently 3-4 against them. The final Division I match is against UC Riverside on April 19.
The Tritons’ match against Fresno State was their seventh of the final 12 road matches of the season. The heavy travel schedule has taken a bit of a toll on UCSD but Tritons head coach Eric Steidlmayer knows that learning to deal with the road matches is important.
“We are traveling to learn how to overcome [the heavy road schedule],” he said. “We need to learn how to play well when we are not perhaps at our best. We need to compete in every match we play in, every time. If we do that, coupled with good efforts in practice, we will be fine.”
UCSD recovered from its losses by blanking California Collegiate Athletic Association rival Cal Poly Pomona on the road, recording its 13th win of the season. This was the second meeting between the two teams. UCSD won the first, 8-1, back on Feb. 10.
The Tritons attacked the Broncos early, earning a 3-0 lead after winning all doubles matches. UCSD dominated Cal Poly Pomona in doubles, relinquishing only four games in all three doubles matches.
The Tritons’ performance in doubles carried over into singles, not allowing the Broncos a chance to come back. Needing to win only two singles matches to seal the victory for UCSD, all Triton singles players put forth solid performances and completed the sweep. Swatt, junior Emil Novak, Wilson, sophomore Brent Molden, Nejad and freshman Seth Spector each recorded a singles victory for the day.
The victory was key for UCSD because it vaulted the team to the top of the CCAA rankings with a 3-0 conference record, followed by UC Davis, which is 2-0. UC Davis is ineligible for postseason play because it officially moved up to Division I but is not yet in full Division I status.
The Tritons have been playing without senior Sameer Chopra for the past four matches. Chopra, who normally plays No. 1 doubles with Wilson and No. 1 singles, is expected to be back next week, according to Steidlmayer.
UCSD will rest for a week before returning to action across town against Point Loma Nazarene on April 14 at 2:30 p.m. This will be the first of its final four regular season matches.
