LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 15 University of California San Diego men's tennis team dropped a close exhibition dual match on Friday, falling to Nevada, 4-3, at Northview Tennis Courts.
Nevada jumped out to an early advantage after winning the doubles point to start the day. The Tritons' No. 3 duo of sophomore Marc Isaia and freshman Naara Shin lost its match to Robert Margitfalvi and Jeremy Merville, 6-2, while UCSD's No. 2 team of sophomore Sreeganesh Manoharan and freshman Neil Tengbumroong fell to Peter O'Donovan and Augustin Delahodde, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point clinch the doubles point for the Wolf Pack.
With the doubles point already decided, the No. 1 Tritons doubles unit of seniors Eric Tseng and Justin Zhang earned a victory in its first action of the dual season, knocking off Nevada's Julien Evrard and Kostya Nesterenko, 6-4.
Singles play began with UC San Diego junior Richard Han defeating Nevada's Jonathan Aremon, 7-5, 7-5, in the No. 5 slot, but Manoharan's three-set loss to Augustin Delahodde in No. 6 singles action, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, put Nevada back ahead, 2-1.
No. 39-ranked Zhang topped Evrard in the No. 2 singles slot, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, but Tengbumroong lost a hard-fought match to O'Donovan, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in No. 4 singles.
Nevada sealed the dual-match victory when Isaia dropped a close three-set match against Margitfalvi, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2, in No. 3 singles action.
With the final result already decided, No. 21-ranked Tseng earned a three-set victory over Nevada's Nesterenko, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4, in No. 1 singles.
"The guys competed well in singles play, but were a little nervous and tight in doubles action starting the match," said UC San Diego head coach Timmer Willing. "Our doubles teams are still a work in progress, but overall our singles seemed ready and focused."
UC San Diego's second scheduled exhibition match of the day against the University of San Diego was canceled due to rain. The Tritons will play another exhibition match on Sunday when they hit the road to take on UC Irvine beginning at 2 p.m.
Nevada 4, UC San Diego 3
Doubles
1. Tseng/Zhang (UCSD) def. Evrard/Nesterenko (Nev), 6-4
2. O'Donovan/Delahodde (Nev) def. Manoharan/Tengbumroon (UCSD), 6-3
3. Margitfalvi/Merville (Nev) def. Isaia/Shin (UCSD), 6-2
Singles
1. No. 21 Tseng (UCSD) def. Nesterenko (Nev), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 39 Zhang (UCSD) def. Evrard (Nev), 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
3. Margitfalvi (Nev) def. Isaia (UCSD), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2
4. O'Donovan (Nev) def. Tengbumroong (UCSD), 7-6 (3), 6-3
5. Han (UCSD) def. Aremon (Nev), 7-5, 7-5
6. Delahodde (Nev) def. Manoharan (UCSD), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
UC San Diego 0-0; National Ranking #15; Regional Ranking #3
Nevada 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,6,2,4,3,1)
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