Only one of the singles matches was close, with Vincent Nguyen pulling out a 4-6, 6-2, 14-12 victory against Villanova’s Ryan Peyton. The doubles team of senior Erik Elliott and Austin West also played a close match but came away victorious, winning 9-7.
Elliott continues to play excellent tennis in his second year as the No. 1 singles player, winning his singles matches easily 6-2 and 6-0. Junior Chapman Chan also won handily, 6-3 and 6-4.
The match against Villanova was the team’s first home match of the season after playing the first seven on the road. The next nine matches are all at home for the team, with the exception of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships this weekend in La Jolla, in which select doubles teams will participate.
The women’s tennis team continued to improve this season, with a 5-4 victory over Cal State Los Angeles on Feb. 23. After losing their first two matches of the season, the Tritons have won three of their last four.
The Tritons held on in the tightly contested match to pull out the victory 5-4, with winning matches from senior Cindy Dao, junior Katie Mulloy and senior Roxanna Pourmirzaie.
“Katie and Roxy are playing great at doubles,” head coach Liz LaPlante said. “They’re really improving. And Cindy as a senior continues to play great.”
Last Saturday, the Tritons’ match against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was cut short due to rain, with CMS leading 2-1 after only the doubles match. The Triton doubles team of Mulloy and Pourmirzaie was victorious.
The Tritons were originally slated to play another match this Friday against Sonoma State, but the match was rescheduled for April 21.
Next up for the Tritons is a tough stretch of home matches against Villanova, Rollins College, Western New Mexico and Cal State Stanislaus over the course of the next two weeks.
“When the conference season starts, it’s always tough, but we’ll get through it,” LaPlante said.
On Thursday, the Triton men’s team will take the court against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, a Division-III opponent, as they look to continue their hot start. The team will participate in La Jolla’s Pacific Coast Doubles Championships from March 4 to March 6.
Readers can contact Jonathan Kaslow at [email protected]
