SAN DIEGO — The first appearance in The Big West Men's Tennis Championship for UC San Diego came to an end on Saturday after a 4-0 loss to No. 34 UC Santa Barbara in a semifinal match Saturday morning at Barnes Tennis Center.
The Gauchos are the championship's top seed and earned a bye to Saturday's semifinal round. The Tritons were the four seed and advanced to the match after a 4-2 win over Cal Poly on Friday.
The loss ended the Tritons' season with a record of 7-14. UC San Diego's 3-3 record in The Big West was the program's best since making the move to Division I ahead of the 2021 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara got a quick advantage in the dual match with a pair of 6-1 wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles to take the doubles point. No. 2 was much closer, with
Carson Lee and
Diogo Tinoco on serve with their opponents.
The Gauchos had a strong start to singles play as well, winning the first set on all six courts. The Tritons settled in as the match progressed but were unable to make up the deficit.
Wins at No. 1, 2 and 4 singles clinched the dual match for UC Santa Barbara. All three were wrapped up in straight sets.
David Adamson lost the first set at No. 5 singles 2-6 but fought back to win set two 6-4. Set three had not begun when the dual match concluded.
Pelayo Rodriguez (No. 3) and
Charles Qian (No. 6) also had strong comebacks in their second sets. Rodriguez earned a late break to force a 5-all tie, with Qian within striking distance down 3-4 at the point of interruption.
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC Santa Barbara also won the regular season match between the two teams, a 4-1 victory on April 11 in La Jolla. The Tritons took the doubles point that day.
- The Tritons were competing in The Big West Championship for the first time after completing a four-year transition to Division I ahead of this season.
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 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 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.
