Final ITA Rankings Have Knights at No. 7 in the State
San Diego City's men's tennis team finished the shortened 2020 season as the No. 7 ranked team in the state according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which announced its final rankings on Thursday.
San Diego City's men's tennis team finished the shortened 2020 season as the No. 7 ranked team in the state according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which announced its final rankings on Thursday.
The Knights started the season with seven straight wins, six of which were 9-0 sweeps. Five of their seven victories came against teams in the top 25, including and 8-1 win over No. 8 Riverside and a 9-0 sweep over No. 14 Orange Coast.
San Diego City was looking like the favorite to win the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference after sweeping its first four matches against Imperial Valley, Palomar, Grossmont, and Mesa, but the Knights' hopes of winning a second PCAC title in the last four years ended when the CCCAA canceled the remainder of the season due to Covid-19.
"It was a tough pill to swallow sitting at 7-2 overall and 4-0 in PCAC knowing that the decision to postone and then cancel was the absolute right thing to do, but also knowing that we had a convincing lead for the title and our fourth consecutive team playoff berth," said Head Coach Brandon Lupian.
"We had the No. 1 singles player in the conference (Nik Speshilov) coming off a PCAC Athlete of the Month for February, so we lost a chance at titles in singles and doubles as well," continued Lupian. "By far my best team in 14 seasons."