Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Tennis Team moves to 4-15 on the season after earning its first conference victory of the season, 4-2 against Hawai'i Sunday afternoon. It is the first conference victory for the Highlanders since the 2007 season.
Today's match went straight into singles play as doubles had to be suspended due to poor air quality as a result of smoke from fires in Corona.
"The guys have worked so hard and been so dedicated to growing and improving," said head coach Tim Downey. "They earned this win. It was inspiring. I'm so proud of them and so should all Highlanders."Honored at the match were seniors Sina Sharifi and Luis Gastao who played their last match for the blue and gold at the SRC today. Sharifi took home a singles victory 6-0, 6-1, aiding in the Highlanders efforts.
Assisting in the other three points for UC Riverside was Calvin Ngo, Cooper Bridge, and Michael Carella. Both Bridge and Carella snagged wins after three sets of competition.
UC Riverside is back in action Thursday, April 23 as they travel to Indian Wells for the Big West Championship.
| UC Riverside vs. Hawai'i |
| April 19, 2015 |
| (Riverside, CA) |
| | | | | |
| UC Riverside, 4 , Hawai'i, 2 |
| | | | | |
| Doubles |
| 1 | Michael Carella | def. | Lam | | DNP |
| Cooper Bridge | | Chan | | |
| 2 | Julian Ruffin | def. | Okamoto | | DNP |
| Calvin Ngo | | Albert | | |
| 3 | Luis Gastao | def. | Campanion | | DNP |
| Sean Robles | | Wohrl | | |
| x | | | | | |
| Singles |
| 1 | Okamoto | def. | Julian Ruffin | UH | 6-2, 6-1 |
| 2 | Lam | def. | Luis Gastao | UH | 6-0, 6-3 |
| 3 | Cooper Bridge | def. | Albert | UCR | 6-4. 6-7, 7-5 |
| 4 | Michael Carella | def. | Chan | UCR | 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 |
| 5 | Calvin Ngo | def. | Pinola | UCR | 6-2, 6-4 |
| 6 | Sina Sharifi | def. | Wohrl | UCR | 6-0, 6-1 |
