SAN DIEGO — Sophomore Carson Lee won his fifth-straight match at No. 1 singles on Saturday, but the Tritons (4-7) were defeated 4-1 by Texas Tech. The neutral-site match was played at USD's Hogan Tennis Center as part of the Ed Collins Classic.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Texas Tech claimed the doubles point with a pair of one-break wins on courts one and three. Court two's match went unfinished with Lee and Diogo Tinoco tied at 5-all with their Red Raider opponents.

In singles play, Texas Tech grabbed straight-set victories at No. 5 and 6 to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the dual match. Lee then got the Tritons on the board with his 6-3, 6-4 singles victory. All of Lee's wins during his current five-match stretch have been in straight sets.

The remaining three singles matches each had tight first sets. Texas Tech won set one on court three in a tiebreaker before winning set two 6-2 to clinch the dual match.

The first set of No. 2 singles also went to a tiebreaker, with Tinoco ultimately victorious for the Tritons in an 11-9 thriller. At No. 4, Pelayo Rodriguez avoided a tiebreaker but went the distance in his first set, winning 7-5. Both matches went unfinished before the second set could conclude.

TRITON TIDBITS

• Saturday's contest was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
• Pelayo Rodriguez and Zach Pellouchoud's No. 1 doubles match was against nationally-ranked No. 80 Sebastian Abboud and Piotr Pawlak.

UP NEXT
The Tritons have a doubleheader on deck tomorrow (Sunday, March 9). They first finish the Ed Collins Classic at 9:00 a.m. with a match against Tulane at USD's Hogan Tennis Center. The Tritons will then return home for a 2:30 p.m. match with Gonzaga from UC San Diego's Northview Tennis Courts.

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 84 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.