LOS ANGELES - Erik Elliott and Austin West of the UC San Diego men's tennis team captured the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) West Region doubles title Saturday, defeating BYU-Hawaii's Rong Ma and Agnel Peter 8-6 to secure the championship.

With the win, the Tritons' duo earned a spot at the ITA Small College National Championships, which will be held Oct. 14-17 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis center in Mobile, Ala.

"Everyone knew what was on the line," UCSD assistant coach Timmer Willing said. "Our guys were anxious to get a shot and since BYU-Hawaii had a large group traveling and many of the other teams from the tournament stayed and watched, the crowd for the final was great. Erik and Austin started the match with a break on BYU's serve and that advantage carried them."

Prior to Saturday's loss for the Seasiders, Ma had helped BYUH pick up four-straight doubles victories against the Tritons in spring contests. This marks the second-consecutive year that UCSD has fielded an ITA West Region doubles title pair. In 2009, West and Armaun Emami topped a Sonoma State duo to earn the trip to Alabama.

Earlier on Saturday, Elliott competed in the final of the singles draw. Ma came out victorious in that battle, slipping past Elliott by a 7-6, 6-3 tally. The two players met on three occasions this past spring, with two matches officially delivering results. Elliott knocked off his challenger at a tournament Feb. 12 in Phoenix, Ariz., 6-4, 2-6, 11-9, while Ma captured a win in Hawaii on March 25, 6-2, 6-1.

Teammates Sam Ling and West advanced to the final of the back singles draw but the two did not finish their match because of the ongoing doubles title match.