MEN’S TENNIS — The UCSD men’s tennis team began its
long-anticipated start to the spring season with mixed results, going 1-1 over
the weekend in matches against UC Riverside, a Division-I school, and Azusa
Pacific, one of the best teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics. Coming off a school-best appearance in the Final Four last year, the
Tritons have high hopes as the season begins.
The match at
got UCSD’s season off to a rousing start, in an impressive 6-1 victory over the
Division-I team. The Tritons took two of three doubles matches, then won five
of six singles matches to walk away with a victory. Eric Rubens and Blake
Meister, UCSD’s powerhouse number-one doubles team, combined to beat the
Highlanders top team of Joe Cartledge and John Park 8-3. Bijan Moallemi and
Chad Becker helped secure the doubles point with an 8-6 win over Sebastian Ko
and Gorjan Kovacevic. In the third doubles match, Kazumi Negishi and Alex
Edstrom fell 8-5 to the UC Riverside team of Quac Doan and Ahmad Shiraz.
In singles play, it was more of the same as UCSD blew past
overmatched UC Riverside in all but one match. Moallemi held the top singles
spot with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Cartledge. At number two, Rubens made it a
perfect day on the court with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over Park. The
match of the day came at the number three spot as Negishi, a junior, prevailed
in a tight 6-4, 4-6, 5-5 match that was decided when Negishi’s opponent, Kovacevic, had to retire during the match’s
thrilling conclusion. Meister had his own three-set encounter, and like
Negishi, he was able to pull out the victory, winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 over Doan
at number four singles. Vince Nguyen was able to win his match at the sixth spot,
a 6-4, 6-4 win over Ko. UCSD’s only loss in singles against UC Riverside came
at the five spot, with Jack Tadevosian taking out Chad Becker 6-3, 6-1 to earn
the Highlanders’ only point.
As well as the Tritons season started, their fortune took a
complete turnaround during Saturday’s matchup with Azusa Pacific. Winning only
one match out of nine will certainly give the Tritons plenty of bulletin-board
material as they try to get things going again.
Meister was the only Triton to walk away victorious, winning
his singles match at the four spot, 6-2, 6-3 over Ronald Chow. Every other
singles match was a victory for Azusa Pacific, with all coming in straight
sets. At number one singles, Rubens was taken down by Matthijs Bolsius 7-5,
6-2. Patrick Kur defeated Moallemi at number two by a 6-1, 6-1 score. Then, at
the three spot, Negishi was taken down by Mathias Weber 6-1, 6-4. Art Fatkhiev
was able to beat Vincent Nguyen 7-5, 6-2 at the fifth spot; Jan Friedrich won
the last singles match 6-3, 7-5.
The Tritons’ struggles continued in doubles as they dropped
all three matches. UCSD’s top duo of Meister and Rubens lost a 9-7 decision. In
number two doubles, Fatkhiev and Weber combined to beat Becker and Moallemi,
8-5. In the third doubles match, Ronald Chow and Daniel Moore took down Alex
Edstrom and his partner Negishi also by an 8-5 score.
“Injuries really hurt us, especially in our second match
against
we can’t let that be an excuse, and as we prepare for conference play, it’s
important that we get back to the level that our team knows we are capable of
playing at.”
The Tritons took out the frustrations from their Loss to
Azusa Pacific when it faced Point Loma Nazarene on Feb. 6, crushing the Sea
Lions 7-2. Further results were not available
as of press time. UCSD will look to carry its momentum into its home opener on
Feb. 13 against Cal Poly Pomona, who the Tritons beat in three meetings last
season.
