SAN ANTONIO – No. 11 Trinity University Men's Tennis will leave the Alamo City for the first time in over a month on Friday to face fellow Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference member, No. 19 Southwestern University, then will return home to host UC Santa Cruz on Saturday.
After a weekend off, the Tigers (11-5, 3-0 SCAC) will play against yet another NCAA III team that is ranked nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), making No. 19 Southwestern their ninth such opponent of the spring.
In their last weekend of play, Trinity swept Austin College in a speedy 9-0 afternoon match after falling 7-2 against No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis that morning.
Senior
Hao Nguyen (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) contributed in both of the Tigers' points against their ranked opponent of the day, the first coming with his doubles partner, sophomore
Eric Liao (Taipei, Taiwan / Boca Prep [FL]). The duo started their line with a 5-0 lead, but the No. 5 doubles team in NCAA III – per the Intercollegiate Tennis Association – didn't go out with a fight, scoring five straight to put themselves back in the match before eventually falling to Nguyen and Liao, 8-6.
As the singles lines started up, the Bears tallied four consecutive straight-set wins in the third through sixth lines to clinch the match. Nguyen – the No. 30 player in the country – put up the only singles win for the Tigers as he defeated Phuc Nuynh – the No. 32 player in the country – on a 10-8 tiebreaker score in line one. Fellow senior, No. 13
Alessio Azzalini (Rome, Italy / Istituto Visconti) faced No. 5 Abhi Ramireddy but fell in his tiebreaker, 10-8.
NCAA III Rankings: New ITA National Team and Regional Player Rankings Expected April 14
Trinity held its No. 11 ranking in the last release of the ITA's NCAA III rankings, and landed in second in the West region.
New regional player and team rankings are expected to be released from the ITA this Friday (April 14) along with updated national team rankings.
Preview: Wrapping Up Regular Season Ranked and Non-Conference Matchups
On the Pirates: Southwestern will host Trinity for the first time since 2018 on Friday, with three of their last six matchups being played in San Antonio. Of the last 15 meetings, the Tigers have only dropped one contest in a narrow 5-4 victory by the Pirates.
Southwestern has maintained a steady ranking of No. 19 from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association since the start of the spring season, and moved up one spot to be recognized as fifth in the West. They currently have a record of 14-5 overall, 4-0 in SCAC play.
The Pirates currently have one doubles team ranked – Oscar Roy and Ashton Ellis – falling in seventh nationally, third in the region. The duo is 10-7 against NCAA III opponents this season, and earned Southwestern's lone doubles win against No. 13 Caltech in late March. Additionally, Bernardo Clemente holds the 19
th spot in the region for singles players.
The Pirates played a midweek match against Concordia University (TX) on Tuesday, posting a 6-3 victory to snap a three-game losing streak, and will face Colorado College Thursday evening before their Friday match against the Tigers.
On the Banana Slugs: UC Santa Cruz has only faced Trinity five times since 2010, their last matchup being in March of 2014. The Tigers have taken the last two matches, but fell in their only home contest in 2011.
The Banana Slugs currently hold the No. 14 spot in the West region, where they were previously unranked. Most recently, UCSC faced No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CA) and fell 7-2. Sam Hall and Andre Mardirossian posted an 8-4 win in doubles while Aziz Albayouk tallied a 10-5 tiebreaker win for the Slugs two points of the match.
Looking Ahead: One Last Matchup Before Conference Championships
No. 11 Trinity Men's Tennis will face Schreiner University for their final spring match at the
Butch Newman Tennis Center on April 22.
The Tigers will make their way back to Georgetown April 28-30 to compete in the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
