LA JOLLA, Calif. - The defending national champions of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) proved to be too much Friday for the UC San Diego men's tennis team, with the Tritons dropping an 8-1 decision to Fresno Pacific at home.

The Tritons now hold an overall record of 4-4, while FPU improves to 5-0 as the NAIA's top-ranked squad. UCSD originally was scheduled to return to action Saturday to face UC Riverside in Murrieta but a forecast of rain for that area has forced the cancellation of that match. Next up for the Tritons is a home match on Monday with Villanova at 1 p.m.

On Friday, UCSD and FPU began their match with doubles play. Although the Sunbirds secured victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, the Tritons' Erik Elliott and Jake Fellow topped FPU's Denny Fafek and Jose Hilla, 8-4, at the No. 2 spot. As a doubles pair, Elliott and Fellow improved their 2010 record to 5-2 with the win.

Although down just 2-1 heading into singles, the UCSD squad ended up getting swept the rest of the way. The Sunbirds exhibited their dominance by taking each match in straight sets.

Freshman Junya Yoshida, previously undefeated, suffered his first career loss as a Triton, losing to Hilla, 6-3, 6-1.

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