HONOLULU – UC San Diego sophomore Katelyn Vu won her team-leading eighth match of the season – a three-set triumph on court six – to clinch the Tritons' 4-1 victory over Hawai'i Pacific on Friday morning at the UH Tennis Complex. The win propelled UC San Diego to 7-10 on the season, giving the Tritons more victories so far this spring than in their first two Division I seasons combined.
 
Ranked fifth nationally in NCAA Division II, the Sharks fell to 9-7 on the season.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UC San Diego 4, Hawai'i Pacific 1
Records: UC San Diego 7-10, Hawai'i Pacific 9-7
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The UC San Diego tandem of sophomore Naomi Nguyen and senior captain Sophie Pearson improved to 2-0 at No. 3 doubles with their 6-2 win over HPU's Nicole Ballach and Mihoki Miyahara. After HPU won 6-3 on court two, UC San Diego's No. 1 tandem of junior Ella Pachl and sophomore Kelly Leung clinched the doubles point, winning 6-3 over the Sharks' Shaline Pipa and Marleen Tilgner.  
 
When singles play began, the two sides waited out a lengthy rain delay. As play resumed, Hawai'i Pacific leveled the score at 1-1 thanks to a 6-3, 6-3 win by Elodie Busson at No. 2.
 
From there, it was all Tritons. Freshman Grace Gamal put UC San Diego back on top with her 6-4, 6-3 win over Tilgner at No. 3. Senior captain Sophie Pearson gave the Tritons a commanding 3-1 advantage in the match with her 6-3, 6-4 win over Abigail Wild on court four. Vu sealed the win with her comeback at No. 6. After dropping the first set 6-2, Vu evened things with a 6-2 win in the second set and was dominant in the deciding set, clinching the match with a 6-1 third set win.
 
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Ella Pachl/Kelly Leung (UCSD) def. Shaline Pipa/Marleen Tilgner (HPU), 6-3
2. Elodie Busson/Abigail Wild (HPU) def. Rachel Wagner/Katelyn Vu (UCSD), 6-3
3. Naomi Nguyen/Sophie Pearson (UCSD) def. Nicole Ballach/Mihoki Miyahara (HPU), 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
 
Singles
1. Kelly Leung (UCSD) vs. Shaline Pipa (HPU), 6-2, 3-6, 3-3, unfinished
2. Elodie Busson (HPU) def. Ella Pachl (UCSD), 6-3, 6-3
3. Grace Gamal (UCSD) def. Marleen Tilgner (HPU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Sophie Pearson (UCSD) def. Abigail Wild (HPU), 6-3, 6-4
5. Nicole Ballach (HPU) vs. Naomi Nguyen (UCSD), 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
6. Katelyn Vu (UCSD) def. Mihoki Miyahara (HPU), 2-6, 6-2, 6-1

Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 6
 
QUOTABLE
"This was a nice win today against a good team," said UC San Diego head coach Liz LaPlante. "We persevered through a pair of rain delays and high humidity and got a win. It was a great team effort, capped by Katelyn's comeback win in the third set."

"After the first set, I was told I needed to smile more," commented Katelyn Vu. "That really loosened me up and help me play more relaxed. I was able to dictate more with my forehand and that was really helpful [over the final two sets]."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• With her win at No. 6, sophomore Katelyn Vu clinched her second match of the season and the third of her Triton career.
• With most singles courts competing in the first set, the match was delayed nearly two hours by rain.
• The match marked UC San Diego's first neutral site contest of the season. The Tritons-Sharks match was played on the University of Hawai'i campus in Manoa.
• Friday marked the first meeting between the Sharks and Tritons since 2020 when UC San Diego competed in NCAA Division II.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will begin the season's final month with a Big West match at Hawai'i on April 1 at 1 p.m. PDT (10 a.m. HST).
 
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 began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West 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 earned 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 Divisions I and II.