SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - It's been said occasionally that the sequel is better than the first installment, and the UC San Diego men's tennis team proved that point in the second day of the 2012 UCSB Classic. After a difficult first day, the Tritons rebounded on Saturday with some key victories over Division-I opponents.

"Second day was better than the blustery day Friday in Santa Barbara," said head coach Timmer Willing. "Our guys played a little better with the conditions and competed well. We definitely have areas to improve upon that can only be resolved through tournament toughness. Learning to close the match out when you have your opponent in trouble is the main concern. Our team is physically tired and mentally tired from the tough three weeks, but they are still fighting and competing. They are competing through soreness and some minor injuries to give themselves a chance to move further into the tournament. The goal is the leave everything on the court and let the results stand - No excuses, no quit and head back home to practice the areas of weakness."

Camill Salomon and Max Jiganti began the morning in the Flight "A" Doubles Consolation Round against the Mustangs of Cal Poly, defeating Jurgen De Jager and Gannon Daynes, 8-2, on the Rec Center Courts. Though slated to face Nikhil Jayashankar and Jordan Smith of Cal in the final, Salomon and Jiganti ended the day as the default winners of the Flight "A" Doubles Consolation round.

As that match was played, Kona Luu and Ganesh Alagappan went on the attack at the Rob Gym Courts with Aggies Toki Sherbakov and Adam Luba of UC Davis, rectifying their previous match to end up on the winning end of an 8-6 score.

Later in the day on the Stadium Courts, Alagappan took on Nicholas Szyndlar of Westmont in the Singles "C" Flight Round of 8. Alagappan, who claimed UCSD's only victory on Friday, won the first set against Szyndlar, 6-3, and finished him with a landslide, 6-0 second-set triumph to win the match.

Alagappan competed against Daynes in the semifinals. Daynes reached the semifinals with a bye in the Round of 8 after defeating UCSD's Justin Anderson, 6-4, 6-1, on Friday. With a slot in the final at stake, Alagappan fell, 6-4, in the first set before injury forced him to withdraw in the second set.

Salomon received a default due to an injury sustained by Nevada's Moez Echargui, who he was slated to face in the Flight "A" Singles Consolation Round of 8. The default advanced Salomon to the Consolation semis, where he faced UC Santa Barbara's Ziad Sultan. Salomon and Sultan had a tight first set, which Sultan won, 7-6. Sultan then defeated Salomon with a 6-4 victory in the second set.

Luu faced Cal's Jordan Smith in UCSD's Flight "B" Consolation Round of 8 match. Although he gave a valiant effort throughout the match, Luu fell 7-5 in both sets. Luu's second match in the next bracket down pitted him against Luba, who bested Luu, 7-6, 6-0. Luu was scheduled to face Cal's Stuart Miller in the 15th-place final, but Luu earned 15th place since Miller defaulted.

In a case of deja vu, Jiganti outscored Luba in straight sets during the "B" Flight Consolation Round of 8 with the same exact score as Salomon had in his match with Echargui (6-3, 6-0). During his second Flight "B" singles match of the day, Jiganti outscored Smith, 6-2, 6-2, to avenge Luu's defeat in the previous round while clinching a slot in the flight's final.

Earning a bye of his own in the Flight "C" Consolation bracket's opening round was Anderson, who climbed to the semifinals to play Philip Hinojosa of Nevada. Despite cruising to a 6-1 win in the first set, Hinojosa eventually evened and beat Anderson with scores of 6-1 and 6-0 in the second and third set, respectively. Anderson, who had another bye after losing to Hinojosa, finished 11th overall.

Luu and Alagappan will vie a fifth-place finish in the "B" Flight Doubles Consolation where they take on Nevada's Ryan Andrada and Hinojosa on Sunday at 9 a.m.

The remaining singles matches will also occur on Sunday upon the completion of all doubles matches.

Alagappan will play in the third-place match of the Flight "C" bracket on Sunday against Logan Liddell of Santa Barbara City College once all the doubles championships are completed. Liddell lost in the Round of 4 to Naveen Beasley of Cal Poly, 6-2, 6-0.

Salomon will play in the Flight "A" singles bracket's 11th-place match, where he will play UCD's Kyle Miller, who lost to Nevada's Fernando Sunago, 6-4, 6-2, in the Round of 4.

Jiganti will meet UCD's Brett Bacharach in the Flight "B" singles ninth-place final. Bacharach reached the final by defeating Alan Barrios of NAU, 6-2, in straight sets.

2012 UCSB Classic
Oct. 13, 2012
Rec Center Courts (Flight "A"), Rob Gym Courts (Flight "B") and Stadium Courts (Flight "C")
Santa Barbara, Calif.

Singles - Flight "A" Consolation Round of 8
Camill Salomon (UCSD) default

Singles - Flight "A" Consolation Round of 4
Ziad Sultan (UC Santa Barbara) def. Camill Salomon (UCSD) 7-6, 6-4

Singles - Flight "B" - Consolation Round of 8
Max Jiganti (UCSD) def. Adam Luba (UC Davis) 6-3, 6-0
Jordan Smith (Cal) def. Kona Luu (UCSD) 7-5, 7-5

Singles - Flight "B" Consolation Round of 4 (Places 9th-12th)
Max Jiganti (UCSD) def. Jordan Smith (Cal) 6-2, 6-2

Singles - Flight "B" Consolation Round of 4 (Places 13th-16th)
Adam Luba (UC Davis) def. Kona Luu (UCSD) 7-6, 6-0

Singles - Flight "B" Consolation Round Final (Places 13th-16th)
Kona Luu (UCSD) def. Stuart Miller (Cal) default

Singles - Flight "C" Round of 8
Ganesh Alagappan (UCSD) def. Nicholas Szyndlar (Westmont) 6-3, 6-0

Singles - Flight "C" Round of 4
Gannon Daynes (Cal Poly) def. Ganesh Alagappan (UCSD) 6-4, withdraw (injury)

Singles - Flight "C" Consolation Round of 8
Justin Anderson (UCSD) bye

Singles - Flight "C" Consolation Round of 4
Philip Hinojosa (Nevada) def. Justin Anderson (UCSD) 1-6, 6-1, 6-0

Singles - Flight "C" Consolation Round Final (Places 11th and 12th)
Justin Anderson (UCSD) bye

Doubles - Flight "A" Consolation Round of 4
Camill Salomon/Max Jiganti (UCSD) def. Jurgen De Jager/Gannon Daynes (Cal Poly) 8-2

Doubles - Flight "A" Consolation Final
Camill Salomon/Max Jiganti (UCSD) def. Nikhil Jayashankar/Jordan Smith (Cal) default

Doubles - Flight "B" Consolation Round of 4
Kona Luu/Ganesh Alagappan (UCSD) def. Toki Sherbakov/Adam Luba (UC Davis) 8-6

-- UCSDtritons.com --