AZUSA, Calif. ? The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's tennis team continued its stretch of tough matches, facing the the NAIA's No. 1-ranked and defending National Champions, Azusa Pacific on Friday afternoon. The Tritons won one match, the No. 5 singles match, en route to an 8-1 loss in Azusa.
The Cougars took control of the match early when the No. 1 doubles team of Boris Bakalov and Tom Jelsma were able to hold off Brent Molden and Eric Rubens, 8-6. With the two proceeding wins in doubles play combined with the victory at No. 1, Azusa Pacific had the match in hand before singles play had even begun.
However, the Cougars (2-0) did not let up as Bakalov dominated Molden, 6-2, 6-1 in singles play. UC San Diego (0-3), ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division II, has struggled out of the gate this season, which has been a bit of a surprise.
The Tritons continue their tough schedule with a Division I opponent on Saturday. UCSD travels to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly at 1:30 p.m. That match will be the third D-I opponent for the Tritons in their first four matches.
Singles
1 ? Boris Bakalov (APU) d. Brent Molden (UCSD), 6-2, 6-1
2 ? Patrick Kur (APU) d. Blake Meister (UCSD), 6-1, 6-4
3 ? David Goodman (APU) d. Erik Oijala (UCSD), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
4 ? Tom Jelsma (APU) d. Eric Rubens (UCSD), 6-4, 6-4
5 ? Kazumi Negishi (UCSD) d. Cole Billings (APU), 6-3, 6-3
6 ? Art Fatkiev (APU) d. Ramesh Thondapu (UCSD), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1 ? Bakalov/Jelsma (APU) d. Molden/Rubens (UCSD), 8-6
2 ? Kur/Goodman (APU) d. Meister/Oijala (UCSD), 8-4
3 ? Billings/Fatkiev (APU) d. Negishi/Thondapu (UCSD), 8-3
