LA JOLLA, Calif. - Junior Erik Elliott of the UC San Diego men's tennis team received the 2010 West Region's Player to Watch honor from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), officials announced Monday.

After playing entirely doubles as a sophomore in 2009, Elliott stepped into the No. 1 singles spot this season and performed admirably. He tallied a singles record of 9-6 to go along with a team-high 13 doubles victories, while being paired with Jake Fellow earlier in the season and Chapman Chan toward the second half of the year.

Elliott helped the Tritons to a strong start in 2010, as the Dana Point native knocked off two nationally-ranked opponents in a span of 24 hours at the Paseo Tournament held in Phoenix. On Feb. 12, Elliott defeated No. 10 Rong Ma of BYU-Hawaii, 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 and then left the same courts victorious the next day with a 6-4, 6-4 win against No. 24 Yair Banuelos of Western New Mexico.

UCSD finished its season with a 12-10 overall record. The year came to an end with a 5-1 loss at BYUH on May 6 in the NCAA Tournament, marking the 11th-straight postseason appearance for the Tritons.