LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego men's tennis team came up just short in doubles play, and UC Irvine capitalized on the advantage as the Tritons fell to the Anteaters, 4-0, Wednesday afternoon at the Northview Tennis Courts.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UC Irvine 4, UC San Diego 0
Records: UC San Diego 4-14 (1-2 Big West); UC Irvine 11-4 (1-0 Big West)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The doubles point was decided by the finest of margins. After UC Irvine won a close one at No. 3, 7-5, the other two courts both went to tiebreakers. The Anteaters won the tiebreaker at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point, leaving the match at No. 1 unfinished.
 
UC Irvine carried their momentum into singles play, with sophomore Jett Cole at No. 5 being the only Triton to win his first set. Cole's teammates started climbing their way back into their matches in the second set, including redshirt senior Zach Ermert recovering from a 5-2 deficit to force a tiebreaker at No. 3. Unfortunately, UC San Diego's fightback was too little too late, as the Anteaters won the tiebreaker at No. 3, then took wins at No. 6 and No. 1 to clinch the victory.

RESULTS
Doubles

1. Eric Silberman/Zach Ermert (UCSD) vs. Emmanuel Coste/Noah Zamora (UCI), 6-6, dnf
2. Riccardo Roberto/Ali Amiri (UCI) def. Daniel Traxler/William Lan (UCSD), 7-6 (7-1)
3. Matthew Sah/Lawee Sherif (UCI) def. Pelayo Rodriguez/Phillip Lan (UCSD), 7-5

Order of finish: 3, 2
 
Singles

1. #81 Emmanuel Coste (UCI) def. Daniel Traxler (UCSD), 6-3, 6-1
2. Phillip Lan (UCSD) vs. Riccardo Roberto (UCI), 3-6, 2-5, dnf
3. Noah Zamora (UCI) def. Zach Ermert (UCSD), 6-0, 7-5
4. Pelayo Rodriguez (UCSD) vs. Lawee Sherif (UCI), 2-6, 2-5, dnf
5. Jett Cole (UCSD) vs. Ali Amiri (UCI), 6-4, 3-5, dnf
6. Mike Mkrtchian (UCI) def. Charles Qian (UCSD), 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 6, 1
 
QUOTABLE
"I thought we came out strong in doubles," Head Coach Timmer Willing said. "It came down to, gosh, 7-5 on the third court, tiebreaker in the first, tiebreaker in the second, and we had opportunities there … and it looked like we were going to get the doubles point. It didn't happen and the guys got a little flustered going into singles. That's not our strong suit right now. We've got to learn to be a little more gritty, keep some more balls in play, and not try to win every swing. Once we do that and settle down, we'll figure it out, and that's what happened a little bit in the second set, but we were in too big of a hole."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• William Lan and Daniel Traxler have now played four straight doubles matches together, with three of those being in the No. 2 position
• Jett Cole has won a set in all of his unfinished singles matches this season
• The No. 1 doubles match has now gone unfinished in three of the Tritons' last four matches, and it has not been the decisive match in doubles play since UC San Diego's March 3 dual against Villanova

UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays their final home match of the season Thursday, facing BYU at the Northview Tennis Courts. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.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.