SAN ANTONIO - No. 6 Trinity University Men's Tennis notched a pair of shutouts to open the 2022 home schedule Saturday, first over East Texas Baptist University in the morning, followed by University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the afternoon.
The Tigers (2-1) have won 23 consecutive home matches dating back through February 9, 2019 in a victory over Lewis & Clark College which happens to be the only home match of the streak to be hosted off-campus at the John Newcombes Tennis Academy in New Braunfels, Texas.
Trinity's mainstay line-one duo of senior Christian Settles (Claremont, Calif. / Claremont) and junior Hao Nguyen (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) put on a clinic to set the tone in both matches with quick-work shutouts, 8-0. Each Tiger went on to control their singles lines with healthy margins including Nguyen's 6-0, 6-1 tally against the Crusaders which secured the match's fifth point.
Senior Cameron Krimbill (Phoenix, Ariz. / Desert Mountain) and junior Alessio Azzalini (Rome, Italy / Istituto Visconti) collected a bonus feat en route to covering their responisibilities as Nguyen and Settles did. Both Krimbill and Azzalini managed their singles play from lines one and three, respectively, while each grabbed a pair of victories in doubles action with a different partner for each match. Azzalini's 6-1, 6-2 performance in line three singles acted as the clincher over ETBU.
By day's end, a pair of Tiger rookies posted a highlight performance as well. Eric Liao (Taipei, Taiwan / Boca Prep) notched a straight-sets shutout in Saturday's morning session in his first collegiate match. Connor Whittington (Lake Oswego, Oregon / Lake Oswego) earned his first victory in NCAA III comeptition as well, 6-2, 6-3, in the afternoon bout with UMHB.
Trinity Men's Tennis hosts two more NCAA III contests next weekend as University of the South, Sewanee and Hardin-Simmons University will take on the Tigers in the Newman Tennis Center Saturday and next Sunday (Feb. 20), respectively.
Looking ahead, Trinity will ship out to Cleveland, Ohio for the 2022 ITA Indoor National Championships, hosted by Case Western Reserve University, February 25-27. The Tigers will face Brandeis University (MA) on the tournament's opening day at 1 p.m. ET.
