The first collegiate divisional tournament this year was a great success for UC San Diego’s Club Table Tennis Team. Co-ed Varsity gained some new hard hitters such as Jay Ong, the quick and powerful attacker from Australia. The team placed first in the Southern California East Division again this year, winning 3-1 against UC Irvine, although losing a close 2-3 University of Southern California. By having better match scores, the Varsity team was able to win the three way tie and come out as the lead in the pack.

This year, the Varsity team was also able to play matches against universities in the Southern California West Division. UC San Diego’s Varsity team swept Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 4-0 and beat both Santa Monica College and Cal State Northridge Matadors 3-1, but lost to UCLA 2-3 in another doubles tiebreaker match. Overall, the Varsity team won many victories that placed us at the top of the competition.

The Women’s team consisted of mostly new members that had their first taste of collegiate competition. Although they lost to University of Southern California, UC Irvine, and Arizona State University’s women’s teams, they were able to defeat UCLA’s Women’s team. This was a major upset thanks to the Siyu Wang’s leadership of the newer members in our Women’s team.

UCSD’s Junior Varsity 1 team dominated at this tournament without a single loss. Travis Welburn, the previous Junior Varsity 2 team captain lead our team to beat the Junior Varsity 1 teams of San Luis Obispo and Cal State Northridge Matadors 3-1, and winning against UCLA, Santa Monica College, and University of Southern California 4-0.  With both victories and lessons learned, the Table Tennis team is now training hard to prepare for winter quarter’s second collegiate divisional tournament. Come visit and join our climb at Main Gym as we continue to get stronger and stronger!