KONA, Hawaii — The No. 15 University of California San Diego men's tennis team started strong and never let up on Sunday afternoon, defeating No. 8-ranked Hawai'i Pacific, 6-3, at Holua Tennis Center.
Doubles play began with the Tritons sweeping all three matches to take a commanding early lead. UC San Diego's No. 3 team of freshmen Neil Tengbumroong and Eskil Jarlskog defeated Adrian Elduque and Gerardo Irrarrazabal, 8-1, while the No. 2 duo of seniors Eric Tseng and Justin Zhang knocked off Benjamin Locciasano and Juan Erro, 8-2.
The Tritons took a 3-0 lead when their No. 1 unit of sophomores Marc Isaia and Sreeganesh Manoharan topped Maxime Gayte and Jack Lyttle, 8-4.
Singles action began with UC San Diego junior Richard Han dropping his No. 4 singles match to Lyttle, 6-2, 6-2, but the Tritons responded as Tengbrumroong earned a win over Elduque in the No. 6 slot, 6-4, 6-0.
Isaia put UCSD ahead 5-1 and clinched the dual-match victory by defeating No. 46th-ranked Irrarrazabal in No. 3 singles, 6-3, 7-5. Hawaii Pacific's Erro earned a three-set No. 5 singles win over sophomore Marius Ruh, 6-4, 4-6, 10-4, and No. 39-ranked Zhang dropped his No. 2 singles contest to Gayte, 7-6, 6-4.
Tseng, No. 21-ranked singles player in the nation, wrapped up Sunday's dual match victory with a win hard-fought, three-set win over No. 27 Loccisano, 5-7, 6-2, 11-9. Tseng improved to 2-1 this season with both victories coming against ranked opponents.
Doubles:
1. Isaia/Manoharan (UCSD) def. Gayte/Lyttle (HPU), 8-4
2. Zhang/Tseng (UCSD) def. Loccisano/Erro (HPU), 8-2
3. Tengbumroong/Jarlskog (UCSD) def. Elduque/Irrarrazabal (HPU), 8-1
Singles:
1. #21 Tseng (UCSD) def. #27 Loccisano (HPU), 5-7, 6-2, 11-9
2. Gayte (HPU) def. #39 Zhang (UCSD), 7-6, 6-4
3. Isaia (UCSD) def. #46 Irrarrazabal (HPU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Lyttle (HPU) def. Han (UCSD), 6-2, 6-2
5. Erro (HPU) def. Ruh (UCSD), 6-4, 4-6, 10-4
6. Tengbumroong (UCSD) def. Elduque (HPU), 6-4, 6-0
Match Notes:
UC San Diego 1-2; National ranking #15
Hawai'i Pacific 0-2; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,3,5,2,1)
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