HONOLULU – The UC San Diego Men's Tennis team took their second straight victory with its 6-1 triumph over Portland State in their neutral match in Honolulu on Thursday morning. The Tritons dropped the doubles point but rallied to take all six singles matches for a convincing win.
INSIDE THE MATCH
Final Score: UC San Diego 6, Portland State 1
Team Records: UC San Diego 6-12; Portland State 6-10
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons kicked off their three-match trip to Hawai'i with a bang with a confident victory against Portland State. Although today's match was relocated from the original venue, Kailua Racquet Club, to Patsy T. Mink Regional Park in Waipahu, the team didn't lose focus.
The doubles matches opened with a swift Triton victory at No. 1 with
Pelayo Rodriguez and
Daniel Traxler. This match marks their first win as a doubles team this season. However, the other doubles matches did not follow suit, and Portland State took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3.
In the singles matches, the Tritons remained determined to start their series off strong, and they performed with tenacity. Both
Phillip Lan at No. 2 and
Pelayo Rodriguez at No. 5 defeated their opponents with a second-set 6-0 sweep.
Daniel Traxler,
Diogo Tinoco, and
Jett Cole were also major contributors to the team effort, earning three more victories for the Tritons. Traxler at No. 1 clinched the match with the Tritons' fourth singles win. At No. 4,
Charles Qian put up a gritty fight, winning a tiebreaker 10-2 to end the match, 6-1.
RESULTS
Doubles
- Daniel Traxler/ Pelayo Rodriguez (UC San Diego) def. Gregory Gruenig/ Jonas Mathiasen (Portland State) 6-3
- Andrea Brignacca/ Simon Kuszynski (Portland State) def. William Lan/ Eric Silberman (UC San Diego) 6-3
- Luka Jovanovic/ Andrin Zuellig (Portland State) def. Joseph Teh/ Diogo Tinoco (UC San Diego) 7-6[1]
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
- Daniel Traxler(UC San Diego) def. Andrea Brignacca (Portland State) 6-3, 6-4
- Phillip Lan(UC San Diego) def. Jonas Mathiasen (Portland State) 6-3, 6-0
- Diogo Tinoco(UC San Diego) def. Luka Jovanovic (Portland State) 6-1, 6-2
- Charles Qian (UC San Diego) def. Simon Kuszynski (Portland State) 4-6, 6-2, 10-2
- Pelayo Rodriguez (UC San Diego) def. Andrin Zuellig (Portland State) 6-1, 6-0
- Jett Cole(UC San Diego) def. Gregory Gruenig (Portland State) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 2, 1, 3, 4
QUOTABLE WITH COACH TIMMER WILLING:
"We started a little slow in doubles and lost the point as Portland State performed well to clinch the tiebreaker. We responded extremely well in the first sets at 5 of the 6 singles early, giving us the lead, and we never looked back.
Daniel Traxler at the one spot was able to clinch the match for us!"
TRITON TIDBITS
- This match marks the second straight victory for the Tritons and their first neutral match victory of the season.
- Pelayo Rodriguez and Daniel Traxler earned their first win as a doubles team this season with this match.
- Charles Qian was recently named Big West Player of the Week
UP NEXT
The UC San Diego Men's Tennis team will play in Hawai'i again tomorrow night at the UH Tennis Complex vs. Hawai'i at 6 p.m. PDT. Then, the Tritons will finish the Hawai'i series vs. Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday at 7 p.m. PDT.
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.
