AZUSA, Calif. - In a key West Region match-up Saturday, the No. 12 University of California San Diego men's tennis team bested No. 11 Azusa Pacific 5-4 in the squads' second meeting of the year at the M and B Tennis Complex.
The Tritons improve to 11-9 while the Cougars fall to 17-4 overall.
Tied 4-4, it came down to the No. 5 singles tilt between Rodrigo Amaral and Antonio Pejic. Amaral battled for 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory, giving the big win to UC San Diego.
The first two singles spots went the Cougars' way as 49th-ranked Eric Tseng lost to Oliver Frank, the top-ranked singles player in the nation, 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 and 34th-ranked Alexandre Miaule fell to No. 17 Christian Schmid 7-5, 6-4 at No. 2.
The No. 3 slot in the singles saw Justin Zhang take down Pascal Engel in two sets, 6-3, 6-0.
Marc Isaia and Edvin Larsson were also winners for the Tritons.
In doubles, Tseng and Zhang won at No. 3 versus Pluim and Newcomb, 8-5.
Frank and Pejic beat Miaule and Sreeganesh Manoharan 8-6 at No. 1, while Engel and Schmid beat Larsson and Isaia 9-7 at No. 2.
APU defeated UCSD, 5-4, back on Feb. 10 in La Jolla.
Up next, the Tritons will play a final regular season match at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, April 22, at 1 p.m.
#12 UC San Diego 5, #11 Azusa Pacific University 4
April 15, 2017 at Azusa, CA (M and B Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #1 Oliver Frank (APU) def. #49 Eric Tseng (UCSD) 6-2, 7-5
2. #17 Christian Schmid (APU) def. #34 Alexandre Miaule (UCSD) 7-5, 6-4
3. Justin Zhang (UCSD) def. Pascal Engel (APU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Marc Isaia (UCSD) def. Marnix Pluim (APU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Rodrigo Amaral (UCSD) def. Antonio Pejic (APU) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
6. Edvin Larsson (UCSD) def. Shepherd Newcomb (APU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Oliver Frank/Antonio Pejic (APU) def. Alexandre Miaule/Sreeganesh Manoharan (UCSD) 8-6
2. Pascal Engel/Christian Schmid (APU) def. Edvin Larsson/Marc Isaia (UCSD) 9-7
3. Eric Tseng/Justin Zhang (UCSD) def. Marnix Pluim/Shepherd Newcomb (APU) 8-5
Match Notes
UC San Diego 11-9; National ranking #12; Regional ranking #3
Azusa Pacific University 17-4; National ranking #11; Regional ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,1,2,3,6,5)
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