PHOENIX - The UC San Diego men's tennis team cruised to a 7-2 win Saturday against Western New Mexico at the Paseo Racquet Center, site of this weekend's tournament hosted by Grand Canyon.
Junior Erik Elliott, a San Juan Capistrano native, continues to excel at the No. 1 singles position for the Tritons this season. A day after topping BYU-Hawaii's Rong Ma, ranked at No. 10 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason poll, Elliott took down WNMU junior and 24th-ranked Yair Banuelos, 6-4, 6-4.
"Out of the wins today, Erik's probably stands out the most," UCSD head coach Eric Steidlmayer said. "He's been playing unbelievable out there and to top Ma yesterday and then defeat Yair Banuelos today in straight sets, that's impressive."
The Tritons (2-2) took two of three doubles matches from the Mustangs (0-2). As the contest progressed into singles, the UCSD squad elevated its play to another level.
Beyond Elliott's victory at No. 1 and sophomore Chapman Chan suffering a 6-3, 6-3 loss to WNMU's Kyle Lynch, the Tritons swept the other four singles matches from the Mustangs.
Junior captain Vincent Nguyen, with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Francisco Damasio Saturday at No. 4 singles, improves to 4-0 in singles this season.
The Tritons will conclude play in Phoenix on Sunday with matches against Montana St. Billings and No. 25 Midwestern State at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.
---
| Singles competition |
| 1. Erik Elliott (UCSD) def. #24 Yair Banuelos (WNMU) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2. Kyle Lynch (WNMU) def. Chapman Chan (UCSD) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 3. Jake Fellow (UCSD) def. Flavio Rueda (WNMU) 6-4, 6-1 |
| 4. Vincent Nguyen (UCSD) def. Francisco Damasio (WNMU) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 5. Sam Ling (UCSD) def. Yoeri Van Speybroeck (WNMU) 6-2, 6-2 |
| 6. Junya Yoshida (UCSD) def. Devin Stroman (WNMU) 6-1, 6-0 |
| Match Notes |
| Western New Mexico 0-2; Regional ranking #1 |
| UC San Diego 2-2; National ranking #35; Regional ranking #4 |
| - Paseo Tournament hosted by Grand Canyon University |
