LA JOLLA, Calif. – After wrapping up a historical regular season with an impressive 5-2 win over CSUN on Saturday, the Tritons turn their attention to The Big West's postseason for the first time. Seeded fifth, UC San Diego will meet eighth seed UC Davis in the first round of The Big West Women's Tennis Championship on Thursday afternoon in San Diego. The Tritons edged the Aggies, 4-3, in February when these teams last met.
First serve Thursday is slated for 1 p.m. from Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. The winner will take on either Long Beach State or UC Irvine on Friday.
DETAILS
Match 22
Big West Championship Opening Round
#5 UC San Diego (11-10) vs. #8 UC Davis (10-13)
Thursday, April 24 | 1 p.m.
Barnes Tennis Center | San Diego
Championship Central |
Live Stats
ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO
Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
Overall: 11-10
Big West: 5-4
Home: 7-2
Away: 3-7
Neutral: 1-1
vs. Ranked Opponents: 1-3
Streak: W1
ITA Ranking: NR
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
Overall: 10-13
Big West: 3-6
Home: 7-5
Away: 3-8
Neutral: 0-0
vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-4
Streak: L1
ITA Ranking: NR
UP NEXT
The winner of Thursday's match will advance to The Big West Championship quarterfinal round to take on either fourth seed Long Beach State or ninth seed UC Irvine. That quarterfinal round will take place Friday at 3 p.m. from Barnes Tennis Center.
REWRITING THE RECORDS
Prior to this season, UC San Diego had not won more than two Big West matches in a single season. After a 2-0 start to conference play this year, the Tritons finished with five conference victories. With its win over CSUN (April 19), UC San Diego established a new Division I program best with 11 wins.
LAST TIME VS. THE AGGIES: Tritons 4, UCD 3 (Feb. 15) | Box Score
For the second straight match, UC San Diego dropped the doubles point but rallied for a 4-3 conference victory – this time over UC Davis – at Northview Tennis Courts. The victory moved the Tritons into sole possession of first place atop The Big West standings at 2-0. Senior captain
Katelyn Vu improved to 4-0 this spring with her win at No. 6.
HISTORY FOR HAYNES
In the fall, UC San Diego's
Julia Haynes was selected to represent The Big West at the ITA Conference Masters. Haynes is 16-3 in singles action this spring. She was named UCU Athlete of the Week on March 31.
SUCCESSFUL COMBINATIONS
UC San Diego has shuffled its doubles lineup all season, using nine different pairings this spring. The newest tandem at No. 1, grad student
Julia Haynes and senior
Kelly Leung went 3-0 against Big West foes since teaming up. Concurrently, the pairing of senior
Naomi Nguyen and freshman
Allison Lian are 3-1 against Big West opposition on court three.
LEUNG IS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Triton senior
Kelly Leung was named UCU Athlete of the Week (Feb. 10). She clinched a dramatic comeback win for UC San Diego with her straight sets win at No. 3 as UC San Diego came from down 3-0 to top Long Beach State, 4-3, in The Big West opener for both teams. Leung battled for a 7-6 (6), 7-5 win over LBSU's Daria Malaescu needing a quadruple match point to earn her first win of the season at third singles, and, more importantly, lock up the Tritons' first-ever win over the Beach. Earlier in doubles, Leung teamed with
Adriana Tabares for a 6-2 win over LBSU's Diana Di Simone/Thea Jagare on court two.
NAOMI FOR THE NGUYEN
Senior
Naomi Nguyen has found success in doubles with several partners. Nguyen is UC San Diego's all-time wins leader in doubles since the program moved to Division I:
KATE CRACKS THROUGH
Senior captain
Katelyn Vu is UC San Diego's all-time singles wins leader since the program moved to Division I:
VU DIVES INSIDE THE NUMBERS
UC San Diego senior
Katelyn Vu has always taken an analytical, methodical approach on the tennis court. A former walk-on, the fourth year Triton is a two-time team captain and is the program's all-time leader in Division I singles wins. Unsurprisingly, her determination and drive extend off the court. Last month, she was selected to attend the prestigious MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston – one of the industry's most highly influential and impactful annual events. To read the full story,
click here.
FIRST TIMERS
Triton freshmen
Allison Lian and
Athena Wardy have each posted their first collegiate victories this spring. Lian enters the tournament with eight singles victories, including the match clincher in UC San Diego's 4-3 win over Utah (Feb. 16). Wardy made her UC San Diego debut on Feb. 26, winning at No. 6 in the Tritons' victory over Eastern Michigan. She's got three wins this spring.
POSSIBLE LINEUP
Here is the possible Triton lineup based on the team's last match on April 19 against CSUN:
Doubles
1.
Julia Haynes/
Kelly Leung
2.
Katelyn Vu/
Adriana Tabares
2.
Allison Lian/
Naomi Nguyen
Singles
1.
Julia Haynes
2.
Kelly Leung
3.
Grace Gamal
4.
Allison Lian
5.
Adriana Tabares
6.
Katelyn Vu
MAKING THE GRADE
The Tritons have continued to excel in the classroom. UC San Diego posted a 3.79 team grade point average during winter quarter. Junior
Cincy Chen and freshmen
Varsha Jawadi and
Allison Lian each earned a perfect 4.0 GPA.
ITA ACADEMIC RECOGNITION
The UC San Diego women's tennis team earned the 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team award, while a Big West-best nine Tritons earned ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades.
Cincy Chen,
Grace Gamal,
Kelly Leung,
Naomi Nguyen,
Ella Pachl,
Sophie Pearson,
Ania Snissarenko,
Monica Stratakos and
Katelyn Vu collected ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.
In order to be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete, a student-athlete must have carried a grade point average of at least 3.5 for the 2023-24 academic year. For a team to garner ITA All-Academic Team honors, a program must have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above for 2023-24.
FOUR GARNER CSC ACADEMIC AWARD
Four Tritons earned accolades for their hard work both in the classroom and on the court. Juniors
Kelly Leung,
Naomi Nguyen and
Katelyn Vu, along with sophomore
Grace Gamal were all named to the Academic All-District Team as announced by College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). To be eligible, student-athletes must hold a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and must have completed at least one full academic year at the nominating institution. In addition, they must have competed in at least 50% of the team's matches this spring.
TEAM CAPTAINS
UC San Diego grad student
Julia Haynes and senior
Katelyn Vu are this year's team captains. Vu is in her second year in the role.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
This year's Tritons are composed one grad student, four seniors, three juniors and three freshmen. UC San Diego graduated four from last year's squad.
MEET THE NEWCOMERS
Five newcomers have joined the Tritons' roster for the 2024-25 season. Graduate student
Julia Haynes transferred to UC San Diego after four years at Columbia and
Kamya Nair comes to the Tritons as a junior following a stint at UC Riverside. First-year Tritons include
Varsha Jawadi,
Allison Lian, and
Athena Wardy.
YEAR TWO FOR COACH BADER
Sebastian Bader was named the fourth head coach in UC San Diego women's tennis history and is now in his second season. His appointment comes following the retirement of Liz LaPlante, who won 607 dual matches and four Division III national titles over 44 seasons as head coach. Bader served as an assistant under LaPlante for two seasons.
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
TENNIS TALK ON UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS' PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast,
Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and The Big West. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on X
@Tritoncast.
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO TENNIS
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through
X and
Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdwtennis.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the
Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories,
click here.
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 24-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.
