ABILENE, Texas – No. 13 Trinity University Men's Tennis improved to 5-0 against NCAA III competition Saturday through a 7-2 decision at No. 38 Hardin-Simmons University.
 
The Tigers (5-2) rallied from a 2-1 doubles deficit with a shutout of the Cowboys (5-3) in singles with just one line requiring a third set.
 
Senior Alessio Azzalini (Rome, Italy / Istituto Visconti)—the No. 13 player in NCAA III—recovered from an 8-5 doubles loss to clinch the match, 6-3, 6-4, in first-line singles, adding a nationally-ranked victory in the process over No. 46 Brice Bradshaw.
 
The junior third-line duo of Rob Chang (Aeia, Hawaii / 'lolani School) and Dalton Locke (Humble, Texas / Kingwood) prevented the HSU doubles sweep, 8-6, to remain undefeated in dual matches this season and improve to 11-1 including the fall slate.
 
Sophomore Eric Liao (Taipei, Taiwan / Boca Prep [FL]) kickstarted the singles resurgence with a 6-1, 6-0 mark in the fourth line with 12 minutes between his results and the next: a 6-4, 6-2 line-six win for first-year Aashish Dhanani (Austin, Texas / Westwood).
 
First-year Rafa Candelas Ruiz (Zacatecas, Mexico / American [ESP]) completed the singles shutout with a third-set 6-4 victory after pulling away from a 3-3 tie in the set.
 
No. 13 Trinity Men's Tennis are slated to pay a visit to the annual Stag-Hen Invitational March 10-11 hosted by No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (CA) and No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (CA).
 
The Tigers return to the Butch Newman Tennis Center Thursday, March 16 to host defending NCAA III Champion No. 1 University of Chicago.