This has been quite a season for the UCSD men’s tennis team, who lost four seniors, returned only four players and added a handful of freshmen to the squad at the beginning of the season. This year did not look to be as promising as 2004, when the team made a run at the NCAA Division II Round of 16 National Championships.
Strikes back:
“This year’s team is quite young from a match-experience perspective,” head coach Eric Steidlmayer said at the beginning of the season. “We don’t have the seasoned veterans like we did last year.”
However, after only a couple of months, the team has started playing like seasoned veterans. With four freshmen added onto the roster, the men accomplished their goal of making the Round of 16 by beating rival Hawaii-Hilo on May 7 at Northview Tennis Courts.
The Tritons hosted the Vulcans for the second time this year after a 7-2 Triton victory in the first meeting on Feb. 25 at the Northview Tennis Courts in front of a large home crowd.
UCSD jumped out in front early with a doubles sweep. At No. 1 singles, sophomore Seth Spector and junior Brent Molden quickly disposed of Hawaii’s Jeremy Moitry and Steffan Moritz, 8-4 while the No. 2 doubles team of senior captain Bryan Swatt and freshman Will Phan defeated their opponents, 8-3.
Junior Erik Oijala and freshman Blake Meister defeated Hawaii’s Ned Hayley and Fuyuki Samejima, 8-2, securing the win with a see-sawing match point that ended with a nice winning shot down the line past Hayley at the net.
Heading into the singles line-up, the excitement and buzz of being two matches away from the Round of 16 was in the air.
The Tritons’ 3-0 lead after the doubles line-up pumped them up, and it did not take too long to win the fifth match.
At No. 2, Molden defeated a very erratic Pollock in a quick 6-0, 6-1 match. Molden was able to capitalize off Pollock’s unforced errors and frustration to quickly put away the match.
Oijala pulled off the win at No. 4 singles against Hawaii’s Mitchel Gelina with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 victory. Oijala overwhelmed Gelina in the first set and was able to capture his concentration again in the third set to close out the match for the Tritons.
At No. 1 singles, Swatt had difficulty against Hawaii’s Moitry who won 6-4, 6-3.
At No. 3 singles, Spector was up 2-0 in the third set after winning the first 7-6 and losing the second 2-6.
At No. 5 singles, Meister was leading Hayley, 6-3, 1-6, 2-1, while Phan, at No. 6 singles, was on the brink of defeating Lars Melskens, 7-5, 4-1.
The match was a test of strength for the young Triton team; few had expected the season to turn out so well and May 7’s match proved that the Tritons are ready to compete with the best.
The Tritons now hold a 14-6 overall record and are ranked 21st in the nation. The men have won five of their last six matches, three of which were against Division I opponents.
In 2004, the Tritons were in the same position but were ousted by eventual national champions West Florida in the first round. This season, they will head to Altamonte Springs, Fla. on May 12 to face their first-round opponents at the NCAA Division II Nationals.
