LA JOLLA, Calif. – After two challenging matches earlier in the week, the UC San Diego men's tennis team (5-11, 1-1 Big West) earned themselves a pair of confidence-boosting shutout victories on Wednesday, defeating the San Diego City College Knights (12-3, 9-2 Inland Empire), 7-0, and the Saint Katherine Firebirds (1-3, 1-1 Golden State), 4-0, at Northview Tennis Courts. Ten different Tritons played at least one doubles or singles match on the day.
 
UC SAN DIEGO 7, SAN DIEGO CITY COLLEGE 0
Freshman Pelayo Rodriguez and junior Phillip Lan opened doubles play with a 6-0 sweep at No. 2, their sixth straight victory as a partnership. With the Tritons only needing one more win to clinch, sophomore Eric Silberman and redshirt senior Zach Emert led, 5-2, at No. 1, as did sophomore Jett Cole and senior Sahm Irvine at No. 3, setting up a race. Silberman and Ermert picked up the win first, their seventh in the last eight matches.
 
In singles, San Diego City College challenged the Tritons on the top courts, taking the first set from junior Daniel Traxler at No. 1 and the second from Ermert at No. 2. On the other four courts, things were more straightforward for the hosts. UC San Diego clinched the match with wins at Nos. 6, 5, and 3 and added another win at No. 4, all in straight sets. Traxler went on win his second and third sets for a comeback victory, leaving all eyes on Ermert. He won his third set as well to wrap up the shutout, the Tritons' first clean sheet since 2019.
 
RESULTS
For a complete box score from the match against San Diego City College, click here.
 
UC SAN DIEGO 4, SAINT KATHERINE 0
Rodriguez and Lan got things started in doubles again, extending their win streak to seven matches with a sweep at No. 3, their second of the day. Traxler and junior William Lan secured the doubles point for UC San Diego with a win at No. 2, while Silberman and Ermert led, 5-3 at No. 1.
 
After his doubles match was cut short, Silberman flew through his first singles match of the season, finishing his first set before most of his teammates had even played three games. As all his fellow Tritons won their first sets, Silberman wrapped up his win at No. 6 with plenty of time to watch on as Traxler won at No. 1 before freshman Sanjith Devineni clinched victory for the Tritons at No. 5 with his second win of the day. UC San Diego led at Nos. 2, 3, and 4 when the match ended.
 
RESULTS
For a complete box score from the match against Saint Katherine, click here.
 
QUOTABLE
"Sometimes it's harder to play when you're expected to win, and that's what we did today, so I was happy with that," Head Coach Timmer Willing said. "I moved some doubles stuff around, just giving more guys a chance to play, a chance to compete, and I think it paid off. The guys that got to play played loose but intense, so each one of the doubles did well on that. Some of the singles, we had new guys in there, fresh faces, they got some playing time and now they got some more and they came through. Sanjith (Devineni) came through and got the clinch, Charles (Qian) got another win here at the four spot, and then Daniel (Traxler) getting a couple wins there at number one. No matter who you're playing, there's always going to be a good number one, it's always going to be a tough match."
 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Sanjith Devineni earned his first two collegiate wins, at No. 6 singles in the first game and No. 5 singles in the second
• Sahm Irvine made his first appearance in doubles play against the Knights; he and Jett Cole led, 5-2, at No. 3 when the Tritons clinched the doubles point
• Eric Silberman picked up a win in his first singles match of the season at No. 6 against Saint Katherine

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons head to Las Vegas next, taking on UNLV in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26. Game one is scheduled for 10 a.m. PT, with game two planned for 2 p.m.
 
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.