The men’s tennis team finally had to escape from San Diego to play a match this weekend. This was to be a big weekend for the Tritons, who were scheduled to play three matches in two days.

That did not happen, however, as the two matches scheduled for Friday, one against Brandeis University and one against Western New Mexico University, were rained out. All was not lost, though; there was still the match against old rival Redlands University Saturday.

The match had to be played in Palm Desert because of rain. The Tritons were glad, because they beat Redlands 6-1 for their first victory over the Bulldogs in over five years.

Things didn’t look good for the Tritons early in the match. Right after arriving in Palm Desert, they began playing doubles and all three teams fell down early.

“”We basically didn’t play very well in doubles,”” said head coach Eric Steidlmayer. “”We basically got out on the courts immediately after a long drive, and I think that hurt us. We had to come back at one and two [doubles] to win the point.””

That is exactly what the Tritons did. The No. 1 doubles team of Sameer Chopra and Dan Albrecht fought through early adversity to win its match by the narrow score of 9-7.

At No. 2 doubles, Mike Meyer and Jeff Wilson went through similar troubles but found their stride quickly enough to win the match 8-6. The duo of Cory Moderhak and Amir Nejad did not fare so well. After getting down early, the team found a bit of a groove but was unable to make it last, as they eventually fell 6-8.

By winning two of the three doubles prosets, the Tritons captured the doubles point. This seemed imperative in order to win at the time, as a close match was expected.

As it turned out, the Tritons would get more than enough in singles to win the match.

At No. 1 singles, Chopra made a mockery of Steve Mashburn of the Bulldogs, winning 2-6, 0-6. Chopra has stepped in nicely this year after sitting out last season because of academic ineligibility.

Meyer also had little problems in his match, winning 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Meyer and Chopra expect to switch off at the No. 1 spot this year.

The match at No. 3 was the closest one of the day, and also the only singles match the Tritons lost. Moderhak won the first set easily by a score of 6-2, but then lost the second 3-6.

The third set went back and forth and was tied at five before Rob Condiotty of Redlands won the next two games and the set 7-5.

Wilson demolished his opponent, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles, and Albrecht and Everett Schroeter both won by scores of 7-5, 6-3 at No. 5 and No. 6 singles respectively.

“”This was a good win for our team,”” Steidlmayer said. “”I thought it would be close. If you haven’t beaten a team in two years, you don’t expect to go in and crush them, and that is pretty much what we did.””

Steidlmayer was also happy with the participation of his players who weren’t playing in the match.

“”This was a total team effort,”” Steidlmayer said. “”We had everyone there, even the red shirts. I know that that played a part in our victory.””

Next up for the Tritons is the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships right here in La Jolla.

This match should be quite a challenge for the Tritons, as they will be facing players from schools such as the University of Southern California and UCLA.

“”This should be a good competition for our guys,”” Steidlmayer said. “”We will be playing some of the toughest Division I competition in the nation.””

The Tritons don’t play at home again until Saturday, March 10 when they take on Boston College. Good luck on the road, UCSD.