SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University Men's Tennis will log its first road match of 2023 this Friday with a visit to NCAA I Abilene Christian University, the final of four matches against non-NCAA III opponents to start the season.
The Tigers (1-1) will battle Tyler Junior College Friday morning at ACU ahead of the bout with the Wildcats, then return to San Antonio to host Concordia University (TX) for their first matchup with a NCAA III program thus far.
Trinity began the 2023 campaign with NCAA II University of Texas-Permian Basin January 29, headlined by the first of two singles victories over nationally-ranked opponents for senior
Hao Nguyen (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) thus far. Nguyen defeated the Falcons' Takumi Katsuda—ranked No. 21 in NCAA II—then followed with a victory over Our Lady of the Lake University's Johan Favelin—NAIA's No. 31 singles player, defeating both players in straight sets.
With national rankings from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on hold until mid-March, the Tigers will remain the No. 13 program in NCAA III, with Nguyen and classmate
Alessio Azzalini (Rome, Italy / Istituto Visconti) ranked nationally in singles—No. 30 and No. 13 respectively—and the duo of Azzalini and first-year
Rafa Candelas Ruiz (Zacatecas, Mexico / American [ESP]) ranked No. 23.
Following this weekend's three matchups, No. 13 Trinity Men's Tennis will take on a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contests next weekend as the Tigers host Texas Lutheran University (Feb. 18; 10:00 a.m.) and University of St. Thomas (Feb. 18; 2:00 p.m.).
SCAC Players of the Week: The First Sweep of 2023
Nguyen's 2-0 start over nationally-ranked opponents captured the first SCAC Singles Player of the Week honor of the season, second of his career. Azzalini and Candelas Ruiz claimed an 8-6 victory in Friday's first-line matchup with OLLU in the spring's debut for the conference doubles recognition.
Preview: Visiting Abilene, Hosting Tornados
On the Apaches: Tyler JC was supposed to be at University of Louisiana-Lafayette's Louisiana Winter Classic last weekend for its season-opener, a title now bestowed upon a neutral-site contest with NCAA II Cameron University (OK) in Plano, Texas Thursday before Friday's second matchup for the Tigers.
Last year, Trinity came away from Abilene with a 4-3 victory over the Apaches in an April makeup weekend that was postponed from early February, snapping a six-match skid in the series.
On the Wildcats: Abilene Christian will host the Tigers on 12 days of rest it too was supposed to visit UL-Lafayette for the Louisiana Winter Classic. The Wildcats sit at 4-2 so far this spring, having won four straight after a season-opening loss to Texas Christian University on January 14, a winning streak that included shutout wins over Hardin-Simmons University—ranked No. 38 in NCAA III this preseason—and NCAA II Lubbock Christian University.
The Tigers and Wildcats have met 11 times since the 2010 season, all of which were hosted in Abilene. Trinity has scored points in each of the last three visits but have not overtaken Abilene Christian since posting back-to-back 4-3 knockouts in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
On the Tornados: Concordia opened the 2023 campaign at home last weekend with a 9-0 drubbing of University of St. Thomas, and will host its first American Southwest Conference match with Howard Payne University Friday afternoon before making the trek to San Antonio Sunday.
Trinity has collected each of the last five matches, the first four of which in shutout fashion. The Tigers' lone surrendered point to the Tornados came in the first match of the 2021 NCAA III Championship tournament, the second meeting between the two programs that season.
Looking Ahead: First SCAC Matches, Notable Dates Ahead
No. 13 Trinity Men's Tennis hosts Texas Lutheran and St. Thomas February 18 for the first two of five SCAC matches this season.
The Tigers are slated to make a visit to Southern California March 10-11 for the annual Stag-Hen Invitational hosted by No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, then return to San Antonio to host reigning NCAA III Champion No. 1 University of Chicago March 16 for the first of five straight NCAA III matchups against teams ranked nationally this preseason.
