OAHU, Hawaii - The No. 17 UC San Diego women's tennis team suffered a tough 5-4 loss to No. 12 Hawaii Pacific on the road Thursday, despite winning two of the three doubles matches.

The Tritons, dropping to 7-4 overall this season, will look to rebound with a Friday match against No. 41 Hawaii Hilo at 12 p.m. HPU improves to 13-2 with Thursday's victory, upholding its No. 2 ranking within the West Region.

Although UCSD took a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion, the Warriors captured four of the six singles matches to secure the overall victory.

In the singles stage, Tritons' junior Natalie Varnay topped HPU's Nina Mihova, 7-6, 6-3, at the No. 2 position. UCSD junior Valerie Tang secured the team's second singles point, defeating the Warriors' Tinka Mihova, 6-0, 6-1, at the No. 4 spot.

The Tritons conclude their Hawaii trip with a 12 p.m. match against Hilo Friday. From there, California Collegiate Athletic Association play resumes on March 31 with a road match against Cal Poly Pomona.

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