IRVINE, Calif. — A trip north on the 5 Tuesday afternoon ended in a 4-0 defeat for UC San Diego men's tennis at No. 46 UC Irvine. The loss moved the Tritons to 6-11 on the year and 3-2 in Big West matches.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Irvine started the match with a shut-out win at No. 1 doubles. The Tritons got a comfortable doubles win of their own on court two from Carson Lee and Diogo Tinoco, but the home side was victorious again on court three to take the doubles point.
 
The Anteaters started out strong in singles as well, getting three straight-set victories at No. 2, 1 and 5 to clinch the dual match. Lee played No. 59 Noah Zamora at No. 1, marking the second-straight match he faced a ranked singles opponent.
 
The remaining three singles matches went unfinished, with the Tritons faring well in all three. Pelayo Rodriguez (No. 3) and Zach Pellouchoud (No. 4) both won their first sets and were even in the second.
 
At No. 6 singles, Charles Qian lost a tight first set 5-7. He was also on serve in the second set when his match was abandoned.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Carson Lee's loss at No. 1 singles ended his streak of 11-straight matches unbeaten. The sophomore still has a team-best 10-4 (.714) singles record this season.
• UC Irvine is one of five Triton opponents currently ranked nationally.

UP NEXT
The Tritons return home on Friday for Senior Day and another match with a ranked opponent. First serve versus UC Santa Barbara is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. A postgame ceremony will honor five seniors: Sanjith Devineni, Charles Qian, Pelayo Rodriguez, Joseph Teh and Diogo Tinoco.
 
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 Conference 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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.