ORLANDO – Trinity University senior men's tennis player Hao Nguyen (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) lost in the opening round of the NCAA III Singles Championships on Thursday morning at the United States Tennis Association National Campus.

Nguyen lost 6-3, 7-6 to the singles No. 4 seed Phuc Huynh from Washington University-St. Louis in the opening round of action. Huynh goes on to play the winner of Brendan Jimenez of Skidmore College (NY) and Tarm Rojanasoonthon of Carleton College (MN) in the second round at 1:00 p.m. today. The matchup between Nguyen and Huynh was a rematch from early April when the two teams met in regular season play, with Nguyen winning a 10-8 third-set super tiebreaker.

Nguyen, playing in his first NCAA Singles Tournament, qualified for the championships by going 19-4 in singles this season, which included an 11-3 mark in dual match play this spring. He was 8-1 in tournament action during the fall, losing only in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Singles Semifinals.

This season is the third straight year that Trinity has had an individual qualify for the NCAA Singles Championships. Nguyen and doubles partner Christian Settles advanced to the NCAA III Quarterfinals last season.

As a team, Trinity advanced to the third round of the NCAA Playoffs, losing a 5-2 decision at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges just short of two weeks ago. Led by Head Coach Russell McMindes, Trinity has won 13 consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships and advanced to the NCAA Playoffs 13 straight times in his 14 seasons in charge of the storied program.