LA JOLLA, Calif. – Playing in a doubleheader on their home courts on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the UC San Diego men's tennis team (0-7) dropped a pair of hard-fought matches to the Utah State Aggies (3-0) at the Northview Tennis Courts.   

INSIDE THE MATCH
Final Match 6: UC San Diego: 2, Utah State: 4
Final Match 7: UC San Diego: 0, Utah State: 4
Records: UC San Diego: 0-7; Utah State: 3-0

HOW IT HAPPENED
Match One:
Opening up the action on Saturday on a sun-soaked Southern California day, the Aggies were able to secure the doubles point by winning a pair of matches in quick fashion to take the early lead.
 
UC San Diego was able to begin starting to fight back in singles action as Phillip Lan earned an impressive two-set victory playing at the number one spot in the lineup while besting a top 100 ITA ranked opponent. Zach Pellouchoud then followed suit with a big win at number six to account for the Tritons' two points of the afternoon.
 
Match Two:
Getting ready to return to action later in the afternoon, Utah State maintained their strong doubles performance by earning two victories despite tremendous work from Eric Silberman and Jett Cole who had a 4-3 lead in their match before the Aggies earned the clinch point.
 
In singles, William Lan and Cole each had good moments as they battled into a stalemate as their matches remained unfinished until Utah State reached four points to pick up their second victory of the day.

RESULTS
Match One: 
Doubles
1. Stjin Paardekooper/Nuni Pineheiro (USU) vs. Pelayo Rodriguez/Zach Pellouchoud (UCSD), 5-5, uf
2. Stefan Vedouelli/Bodin Zarkovic (USU) def. Diogo Tinoco/Phillip Lan (UCSD), 6-1
3. Mohammad Alkotop/Sergi Micó Fenollar (USU) def. Carson Lee/William Lan (UCSD), 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles
1. Phillip Lan (UCSD) def. Bodin Zarkovic (USU), 6-4, 6-4
2. Stjin Paardekooper (USU) def. Carson Lee (UCSD), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Sergi Micó Fenollar (USU) def. Diogo Tinoco (UCSD), 6-4, 6-2
4. Nuni Pineheiro (USU) vs. Pelayo Rodriguez (UCSD), 6-4, 2-6, 4-4, uf
5. Mohammad Alkotop (USU) def. Charles Qian (UCSD), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. Zach Pellouchoud (UCSD) def. Philipp Rein (USU), 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 2, 5
 
Match Two:
Doubles
1. Stjin Paardekooper/Nuni Pineheiro (USU) def. Joseph Teh/Sanjith Devineni (UCSD), 6-1
2. Stefan Vedouelli/Bodin Zarkovic (USU) def. Eric Silberman/Jett Cole (UCSD), 4-3, uf
3. David Martirosian/Philipp Rein (USU) def. William Lan/Tristan Taylor (UCSD), 6-0

Order of finish: 3, 1
 
Singles
1. Bodin Zarkovic (USU) def. Sanjith Devineni (UCSD), 6-0, 6-0
2. Stjin Paardekooper (USU) vs. Jett Cole (UCSD), 6-2, 4-1, uf
3. Sergi Micó Fenollar (USU) vs. William Lan (UCSD), 6-0, 2-2, uf
4. Mohammad Alkotop (USU) def. Joseph Teh (UCSD), 6-0, 6-0
5. Philipp Rein (USU) def. Eric Silberman (UCSD), 6-1, 6-0
6. Stefan Vedouelli (USU) vs. Tristan Taylor (UCSD), 6-2, 4-3, uf

Order of finish: 4, 1, 5

QUOTABLE
"It was a tough day falling short in the last two matches in the third set," UC San Diego head coach Timmer Willing said. "We competed pretty well with the highlight of the day was Phillip Lan having a big win at the one spot. The second match of the day allowed us to get some players matches, they did well but found out quickly what it's going to take that next step to improve their level. Proud of their effort today and this week in their preparation. Tomorrow morning is another opportunity against a very good LMU team."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• P. Lan picked up his first singles victory of the season as he improved his record to the season to 1-4 as he's competed at the number one spot in singles for the fourth time this season.
• Pellouchoud continued to shine while competing at the sixth spot in the lineup and improved his singles record to 2-1 on the season while competing at six.
• Devineni, Silberman and Teh each made their singles debut this afternoon against Utah State playing in the second half of the twin bill.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will be back to work tomorrow afternoon as they head north to face the LMU Lions on Sunday, Jan. 28 for a 12:00 p.m. match at the LMU Tennis Center.

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 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 NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.