LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 14^th-ranked UC San Diego men's tennis team battled hard but came up short to Division I Yale University by an 8-1 on Wednesday afternoon at the Northview Tennis Courts on the UCSD campus. With the loss the Tritons fall to 6-8 on the year while the Bulldogs improve to 4-6.

Seven of UCSD's eight losses have come against D-I schools this year, with the other loss coming against the No. 1-ranked NAIA team, Azusa Pacific. UCSD is 2-0 against NCAA Division II schools, including a 6-3 win at home over No. 8 Rollins earlier this month.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after doubles as their No. 2 and No. 3 teams cruised to wins by scores of 8-3 and 8-4, respectively. At No. 1, however, Rory Green and Rowan Reynolds needed an extra game to down the UCSD duo of Erik Oijala and Blake Meister, winning by a 9-7 score.

In singles play, UCSD managed to take one point as Eric Rubens won at the No. 2 spot over Milosz Gudzowski by scores of 6-2 and 7-6.  Yale won four of their five singles matches in straight-sets, the lone exception came at No. 4 where Michael Caldwell was taken to the limit by Oijala. Caldwell eventually won by scores of 7-6, 6-7 and 10-4.

The Tritons will now take a 17-day break from action that includes a week-long absence from practice for Final Exams next week. UCSD will return to action with two matches on Saturday, April 1, hosting Hawaii Pacific at 9 a.m. and Sonoma State at 2 p.m. Of the eight remaining matches for the Tritons in the regular season, six are against D-II schools.