PHOENIX – Sophomore Jett Cole picked up his first singles win as a Triton, but the UC San Diego men's tennis team fell to Grand Canyon in a challenging match Sunday morning by a score of 6-1.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Grand Canyon 6, UC San Diego 1
Records: UC San Diego 0-7 (0-0 Big West); Grand Canyon 1-9 (0-0 WAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Antelopes won at No. 2 and No. 3 in doubles to earn the first point of the match. The contest at No. 1 did not finish once Grand Canyon clinched the doubles point.
 
In singles play, the Tritons attempted to battle back. Daniel Traxler, Pelayo Rodriguez Garcia, and Jett Cole (playing at Nos. 1, 2, and 3 respectively) each responded to first-set losses by winning their second sets, Traxler and Cole both doing so via a close, 7-5, scoreline. Rodriguez won his second set 6-3. Unfortunately for the Tritons, the Lopes won in straight sets at the other three singles courts (5, 6, and 4 in that order) to claim the three points necessary to seal the match win.
 
With the outcome decided, the decisive third sets were for nothing more than pride. All three were drawn-out contests. Grand Canyon won at No. 1 and No. 2, 10-7 and 10-4 respectively. In the last action of the day, Cole made sure the Tritons would not leave empty handed. The sophomore, who played last season at UC Santa Barbara won the third set, 10-5, to earn his first singles win for UC San Diego.
 
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Mariano Argote/Martim Marujo (GCU) vs. Daniel Traxler/Jett Cole (UCSD), 4-3, dnf
2. Jiri Novak/Grzegorz Rudnicki (GCU) def. Pelayo Rodriguez/Tristan Taylor (UCSD), 6-1
3. Freddie Grant/Loic van Zeggelaar (GCU) def. Joseph Teh/Sanjith Devineni (UCSD), 6-2
 
Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles
1. Jiri Novak (GCU) def. Daniel Traxler (UCSD), 6-4, 5-7, 10-8
2. Mariano Argote (GCU) def. Pelayo Rodriguez (USCD), 6-4, 3-6, 10-4
3. Jett Cole (UCSD) def. Freddie Grant (GCU), 4-6, 7-5, 10-5
4. Martim Marujo (GCU) def. Sahm Irvine (UCSD), 6-4, 6-1
5. Loic van Zeggelaar (GCU) def. Joseph Teh (UCSD), 6-2, 6-0
6. Stanislas de Samucewicz (GCU) def. Tristan Taylor (UCSD), 6-2, 6-3
 
Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 3
 
QUOTABLE
"Most of our guys competed hard and struggled with changing conditions," Head Coach Timmer Willing said. "Not a good situation to be in as a player trying to build confidence and belief in themselves. We are getting better each day but at some point they will need to believe in themselves and trust what they are doing is the right path."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Jett Cole recorded his first singles win as a Triton at No. 3
• The match was the ninth all time between the Tritons and Lopes; the teams first met back in 1979
• Sunday's match was Grand Canyon's first and only home match this season

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons return home for their next match, welcoming Villanova to the Northview Tennis Courts on March 3 at 9 a.m. PT. UC San Diego opens Big West play on March 7, at home against UC Riverside.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.