LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Villanova University men's tennis team heads west this week to compete in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship, beginning February 26 and running through March 1. The Wildcats will face UC San Diego, Ball State and UC Irvine during their trip to California.
Villanova enters the weekend coming off a 4-2 home victory over Colgate at the Villanova Tennis Complex. After several busy weekends, the Wildcats had just one match last week and made the most of it, sweeping the doubles point to set the tone early.
On court No. 1,
Cooper Gordon and
Ethan Carr rolled to a 6-1 win.
Kush Anand and
Thomas Wakefield followed with a tight 6-4 victory on court No. 2, and
Quincy Jones and
Jack Sherner capped off the sweep with a 6-3 triumph on court No. 3.
The Wildcats secured three singles victories to clinch their third win of the season.
Will Monahan battled through a three-set thriller on court No. 3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. Carr delivered a strong 6-3, 6-1 win on court No. 4, and Anand sealed the team victory with a 6-4, 6-3 decision on court No. 6.
UC San Diego enters the weekend with a 5-8 overall record. The Tritons opened the season 5-3, highlighted by wins over Wofford, Sacramento State, Point Loma, Pomona-Pitzer and UTRGV. However, UC San Diego has dropped its last five matches, most recently falling 6-1 to Grand Canyon.
Ball State sits at 4-5 on the season following a 7-0 loss at Michigan. The Cardinals' other defeats came against Indiana, Dayton, Cleveland State and IU Indy. Ball State has earned wins over Xavier, Bellarmine, Indiana University East and Butler.
UC Irvine brings a 2-4 record into the competition. The Anteaters opened the season with four straight losses, three of which came against nationally ranked opponents: No. 12 UCLA, No. 11 San Diego and No. 21 USC, along with Grand Canyon. UC Irvine has since picked up victories over Saint Mary's and most recently San Diego State.
