University of Washington
San Diego
Singles Play Drives UW To 5-2 Road Win Over San Diego
February 21, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 21, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - Washington singles players came through under pressure today as the 10th-ranked men's tennis team picked up its first road win of the year with a 5-2 decision over the San Diego Toreros on the Fresno State campus. Washington (8-2) took the top five singles matches all in straight sets thanks in part to winning all four sets that went to tiebreaks. The win over the 28th-ranked Toreros (4-3) was UW's sixth win over a ranked foe and the highest-ranked opponent the men have defeated this season.
The pivotal positions for UW were the third and fourth singles slots. Freshman Daniel Chu moved up to the third position for the first time in his career and pulled out a 7-5, 7-6 win over San Diego's Nic Beuque and 61st-ranked junior Christoph Palmanshofer also came through in a tight 7-6, 6-4 match at No. 4 singles for the Huskies.
Second-ranked All-American Alex Vlaski faced a highly touted Torero at No. 1 singles in 11th-ranked Pierrick Ysern. After taking the first set in a tiebreak, Vlaski put away Ysern 6-3 to register his tenth win over a ranked opponent this season and fifth over a top-20 player. At second singles, freshman Alex Slovic continued to be automatic as he overcame 75th-ranked Jason Pongsrikul, 6-2, 6-3. Slovic, ranked 53rd in his early career, remains unbeaten in dual play at 10-0 and was the only victorious Husky to not be pushed to a tiebreak in any set. At number five singles, junior Peter Scharler also continued to roll with his straight-set win, having now won five straight and eight of his last nine matches.
Washington lost the doubles point to start the match despite the 11th-ranked tandem of Slovic and Vlaski upping their impressive dual mark to eight wins and only one loss with an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles. This was the second time this year that UW came back to win the match after losing the doubles point, last doing so in a 4-2 victory versus Harvard.
The next stop on Washington's current six-week road trip is Eugene, Oregon. On tap first are the No. 23 Rice Owls, one of the nation's hottest teams, who own a perfect 9-0 record and a recent win over No. 3 Stanford. That match takes place Saturday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. The next day, Feb. 29, UW faces the No. 59 Oregon Ducks at 12 noon in a nonconference showdown between the northwest rivals.
Washington Men's Tennis vs. San Diego
February 21, 2004 - Wathen Tennis Center
No. 10 Washington 5, No. 28 San Diego 2
Doubles
1) (11) Vlaski/Slovic (UW) def. Ysern/Pongsrikul (USD) 8-6
2) Beuque/Plotnick (USD) def. Scharler/Palmanshofer (UW) 9-7
3) Blair/Koristovic (USD) def. Weiss/Chu (UW) 8-5
Singles
1) (2) Alex Vlaski (UW) def. (11) Pierrick Ysern (USD) 7-6, 6-3
2) (53) Alex Slovic (UW) def. (75) Jason Pongsrikul (USD) 6-2, 6-3
3) Daniel Chu (UW) def. Nic Beuque (USD) 7-5, 7-6
4) (61) Christoph Palmanshofer (UW) def. Robbie Blair (USD) 7-6, 6-4
5) Pete Scharler (UW) def. Jeff Das (USD) 6-3, 7-6
6) Mirza Koristovic (USD) def. Chris Floyd (UW) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
