The UCSD men’s tennis team picked up another win on April 15, dominating Sonoma State and extending its winning streak to five matches on the second of a three-day road trip in Northern California. After a comeback victory against UC Davis on April 14, the No. 20 Tritons showed no signs of weariness at the Seawolves’ court in Rohnert Park, Calif., as they handed Sonoma State its tenth loss of the season. Returning to the court April 16 at Santa Clara, UCSD’s luck ran out as the team fell 1-6 to the Broncos at Degheri Tennis Center in Santa Clara, Calif. Details from the match were unavailable at press time.
The Tritons (13-6) swept all three doubles matches on April 15, with captain Bryan Swatt and freshman Blake Meister teaming up at No. 1 doubles to defeat their opponents in an effortless 8-2 victory, and sophomore Seth Spector and freshman Will Phan defeating Sonoma State’s Kevin Buyse and Brandon Buskirk, 8-4, at No. 3 doubles. Juniors Brent Molden and Erik Oijala had a bit more difficulty closing out their match against Sonoma’s T.J. Veii and John Morton at No. 2 doubles, but won their tiebreaker in a close 9-8 victory.
The Tritons had room to change their usual line-up and experiment playing different positions heading into the singles matches. Coming off his usual No. 2 singles position, junior Brent Molden played at the head of the lineup, defeating Andrew Laing with relatively little trouble, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 1 singles. At No. 2 singles, Swatt defeated Andy Meusse in a very close first set, 7-5, before drawing himself together and playing a flawless second set, 6-0, to win his match.
At No. 3 singles, Oijala defeated Veii in a quick 6-3, 6-2 match, while No. 4 and No. 5 singles Meister and Phan each came out victorious by the same score, 6-1, 6-2. The only UCSD loss came at No. 6 singles, as Sonoma State’s Buskirk defeated freshman Alex Whitmore in a close match. Whitmore was able to pull out the first set with a 6-3 victory, but Buskirk came back for a 6-1 second-set win, then closed out the match with a 10-1 pro-set win.
The day before, the men had a tougher time rallying for a win over a strong Division I UC Davis team. The rivalry between the two teams has run for years, with UCSD coming out victorious in recent seasons despite UC Davis’ Division I standing.
The Tritons picked up their first win of the match at No. 3 doubles, with Oijala and Meister fighting off Daniel Elefant and Henri Landes for a 9-7 victory. At No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, UCSD did not fare as well; Spector and Molden teamed up in the No. 1 spot, but were unable to defeat the Aggies’ Michael Chin and Justin Garcia, losing 2-8. At No. 2 doubles, UC Davis’ Casey McMakin and Jordan Combs defeated Swatt and Phan, 8-2, to put the Aggies up 2-1 going into the singles line-up.
UCSD won four singles matches, three of which ended up in three sets, to clinch the victory. At No. 1 singles, Swatt defeated Jayce Fitch, losing the first set, 4-6, before powering back for a convincing final two sets, 6-1, 6-3. At No. 3 singles, Spector defeated Combs in a very close 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory, while Oijala, playing No. 4 singles, defeated Bastian Bartels in the only two-set victory for UCSD, 6-2, 6-1. At No. 5 singles, Meister defeated Elefant for the final UCSD win, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Molden, at No. 2 singles, put up a good fight against Chin, narrowly losing the match, 7-5, 7-6, while McMakin defeated Will Phan at No. 6 singles, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Already having surpassed previous expectations, the Tritons will try their hand at the NCAA Playoffs after taking on Cal Poly Pomona on April 19 in their last home match of the season.
