SAN ANTONIO – No. 11 Trinity University Men's Tennis hosts a trio of programs currently ranked nationally in NCAA III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Friday through Tuesday at the
Butch Newman Tennis Center.
The Tigers (7-4) resume competition against in-division foes Friday with No. 20 Colby College (ME) after leaving off with a 6-3 victory over defending NCAA III Champion No. 6 University of Chicago last Thursday, then host No. 37 Pacific University (OR) and No. 13 California Institute of Technology Sunday and Tuesday.
Trinity stands to face up to eight consecutive NCAA III nationally ranked programs, having battled No. 38 Hardin-Simmons University, No. 17 Gustavus Adolphus University (MN), No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (CA) and the sixth-ranked Maroons since the start of March, putting up a 3-1 record during that time.
The Tigers are 7-1 this season against NCAA III opponents with three victories against nationally ranked teams at the time of competition and a 2-0 start in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season.
Back By Popular Demand: Eric Liao, SCAC Player of the Week (March 21)
For a second straight week, the SCAC named sophomore
Eric Liao (Taipei, Taiwan / Boca Prep [FL]) as the league's Singles Player of the Week as he logged the clinching victory, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in line three of Thursday's bout with Chicago.
Liao has been on a tear against high-ranked NCAA III competition as of late as he posted a 2-0 record in mid-line action against both No. 17 Gustavus and No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer in the Stag-Hen Invitational, earning last week's SCAC recognition.
NCAA III Rankings: New Team Ranks, Player Rankings Coming March 24
Trinity moved up two spots to No. 11 in the first midseason team rankings from the ITA on March 10 from its 13
th preseason starting spot released January 17.
With player rankings to be revisited Friday, seniors
Alessio Azzalini (Rome, Italy / Istituto Visconti) and
Hao Nguyen (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) will remain the No. 13 and No. 30 singles players in NCAA III through Friday's matchup with Colby. Azzalini and first-year partner
Rafa Candelas Ruiz (Zacatecas, Mexico / American [ESP]) will stand at No. 23 nationally in doubles as well.
Preview: The NCAA III Gauntlet Continues
On the Mules: Colby has opened the 2023 campaign undefeated ahead of Tuesday night's late addition of Schreiner University, 4-0, as it opened its Texas tour with an 8-1 output at Texas Lutheran University on Monday.
The Mules were originally scheduled neutral matchup with Centre College (KY) in San Antonio Tuesday morning, though it was cancelled due to inclement weather in the Alamo City. Their Texas circuit continues Thursday with a visit to No. 15 Southwestern University before Friday's finale at Trinity, the first meeting between the two programs.
Two of Colby's four victories thus far have come against a pair of the ITA's top-20 as of the latest poll: at No. 21 Amherst College (MA), 6-3; and No. 24 Brandeis University (MA), 8-1.
Two Mules register in the ITA regional rankings to end last fall's tournament slate, led by Jake Cohen as both the No. 18 player in the Northeast to go along with the No. 10 spot with doubles partner Jan Wenger. Cohen has recorded a 4-0 mark as the line-two singles player—behind Joey Barrett—and holds a 2-2 record with Wenger as the everyday line-one pair.
On the Boxers: Pacific will face Trinity Sunday after hosting Colorado College (Thu.) and a visit to East Texas Baptist University (Sat.), entering the week with a 4-2 record to start the 2023 season, though 4-0 against NCAA III opponents.
The Boxers have battled fellow Northwest Conference members in all four NCAA III matchups, though only two of those results have counted toward the season's conference standings. Pacific hosted a doubleheader with Willamette University (OR) for a 9-0 in-conference decision, followed by an 8-1 mark, then visited Lewis & Clark College (OR) and University of Puget Sound (WA) for 8-1 and in-conference 7-2 results.
Trinity has won each of the two matchups, 6-3, since the 2018 campaign, once in San Antonio and once in the 2020 Hawaii trip.
On the Beavers: Caltech has its own proven record against NCAA III opponents this season as its 5-0 start to the 2023 campaign has come against four nationally ranked programs, with four more over the next eight days including the Tuesday visit to Trinity.
The Beavers have defeated No. 27 Brandeis, No. 28 Swarthmore College (PA) and No. 22 University of the South (TN) all by 5-4 margins this season to go along with a season-opening 6-3 tally against No. 39 University of California-Santa Cruz, all of which have been contested at home. The visit to the
Butch Newman Tennis Center Tuesday—after hosting No. 12 Bowdoin College (ME) and No. 9 Johns Hopkins University (MD)—will be Caltech's first road match of the season.
Kyle McCandless will be the key Beaver to watch Tuesday as he remains the No. 48 singles player in NCAA III from last fall's rankings—which will be updated ahead of the contest—and is half of NCAA III's No. 19 doubles unit with Daniel Wen.
Andrew Zabelo (No. 15) and Ishaan Kannan (No. 17) join McCandless (No. 13) in the West Region singles rankings.
Looking Ahead: Ranked Competition Continues
No. 11 Trinity Men's Tennis has two more programs currently ranked nationally ahead after Tuesday's bout with the Beavers, hosting No. 2 Washington University of St. Louis April 2 and a visit to No. 15 Southwestern April 14.
The 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship will be hosted by the 15
th-ranked Pirates in Georgetown, Texas April 28-30.
