GEORGETOWN, Texas – The 11th-ranked Tiger men's tennis team was edged 5-4 by No. 19 Southwestern University on Friday evening.

Trinity fell to 11-6 with the loss, which is just the team's third defeat against NCAA III opponents this season – though all three were ranked in the top 20 at the time. Southwestern improves to 16-5 with the win.

The Tigers had a promising start in doubles as Alessio Azzalini (Rome, Italy / Istituto Paritario G. Visconti) and Rafa Candelas Ruiz (Zacatecas, Mexico / American School (Spain)) scored an 8-4 win for the first point of the match at line two. Unfortunately, the Pirates earned wins at lines three and one to take the 2-1 lead heading into singles play.

Hao Nguyen (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) quickly got Trinity back to a tie with his straight-set win at line one singles, but Eric Liao (Taipei, Taiwan / Boca Prep (Fla.)) lost a three-setter at line four to put Southwestern back in front by a narrow margin.

Cal Hunter (Lafayette, Calif. / Campolindo) notched a 6-3, 7-5 win at line six to bring it back to a 3-3 team score, but the Pirates once again answered right back. Connor Whittington (Lake Oswego, Ore. / Lake Oswego) roared back with a 6-4 win in the second set, but fell short in the end as Southwestern led 4-3.

Azzalini picked up his second win of the day despite dropping his opening set 6-4 at line two. He took a close 7-5 win in the second, then won 6-3 in the third and the match was all-square at four each.
Another three-set match at line five decided things on this night, with Candelas Ruiz falling just short. He was edged 7-6 in the opening set but bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second to keep the match going. In the end, he fell 6-4 in the third and the Pirates escaped with the upset win.

Up Next
Trinity will make a quick turnaround to play again tomorrow, this time hosting the University of California-Santa Cruz at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Tigers also close out the regular season at home next Saturday (Apr. 22) by hosting Schreiner University in another SCAC matchup.