GEORGETOWN, Texas -- The second-seed Trinity University opened play at the Southern College Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Championship with a 6-0 quarterfinal victory over the seventh-seed Austin College Friday morning at the Marvin D. Henderson Sr. Tennis Courts on the campus of Southwestern University. Official Website l Postmatch Interview | Photo Album
Trinity improved to 14-6 and will face off against Colorado College tomorrow morning in the day's first men's semifinal. Austin College closes the 2023 season with a 1-15 mark.
The Tigers quickly swept all three doubles points, highlighed by an 8-0 victory by Hao Nguyen and Eric Liao at No. 1 doubles. TU's Robert Chang picked up the team's first singles win with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Austin's Yudai Abe. The race was then on for the clincher as Rafa Candelas Ruiz narrowly got the honors, closing out this match over the 'Roos' Luke Henley, 6-0, 6-0. Tiger teammate Connor Whittington had match point in the air as Ruiz was clinching his match and earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory to make the final team margin 6-0.
Trinity's men are undefeated in quarterfinal play in the SCAC era (1992-present), having advanced to every conference semifinal by an impressive 174-2 game margin in 24 quarterfinal matches.
#8 TRINITY UNIVERSITY 6, AUSTIN COLLEGE 0
April 28, 2023 at Georgetown, Texas (Marvin D. Henderson Sr. Tennis Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Hao Nguyen (TU) vs. Trey Salyer (AC) 2-6, unfinished |
| 2. Alessio Azzalini (TU) vs. Tate Nelson (AC) 6-0, 3-0, unfinished |
| 3. Eric Liao (TU) vs. AJ Wueste (AC) 6-0, 4-2, unfinished |
| 4. Connor Whittington (TU) def. Neel Gautam (AC) 6-0, 6-1 |
| 5. Rafa Candelas Ruiz (TU) def. Luke Henley (AC) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 6. Robert Chang (TU) def. Yudai Abe (AC) 6-0, 6-0 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Hao Nguyen/Eric Liao (TU) def. Tate Nelson/Trey Salyer (AC) 8-0 |
| 2. Alessio Azzalini/Rafa Candelas Ruiz (TU) def. AJ Wueste/Neel Gautam (AC) 8-2 |
| 3. Robert Chang/Dalton Locke (TU) def. Luke Henley/Yudai Abe (AC) 8-1 |
| Match Notes |
| Austin College 1-15 |
| Trinity University 14-6; National ranking #8; Regional ranking #2 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,4) |
| 2023 SCAC Tournament Quarterfinal. Trinity advances to face Colorado College in |
| SCAC Semifinals on Saturday. |
UP NEXT
Trinity will face off against Colorado College tomorrow morning in the day's first men's semifinal. The two have met three times in SCAC men's tournament play, with Trinity holding a 3-0 advantage, including a 5-0 victory in the 2016 semifinals - the team's last tournament match-up.