UCSD’s Table Tennis Team was very eager to return to the collegiate competition scene after a year and half hiatus due to the pandemic. The team gained a couple of NCTTA veterans in Axel Yarahuaman and Sanjana Choudhary but also many Freshmen, Sophomores, and Graduate Students who were new to the NCTTA competition. The numerous fresh faces on the team this year and COVID protocals gave a different feeling to this divisionals but what remained the same is UCSD’s strong showing against the other colleges in the SoCal division. We were unfortunately only able to send 3 teams this time (our Co-ed Varsity, Women’s Varsity, and Junior Varsity 1 teams) due to COVID restrictions and limited venue size. 

The Co-ed Varsity Team had a series of exciting matchups including a close 3-2 win over Arizona State University. Their only loss was a 1-3 loss to UCLA. Masters Student Feng Yi Liao had an especially remarkable performance going undefeated in both singles and doubles this tournament. 

UCSD’s Junior Varsity 1 Team faced UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Arizona State University, and UCLA. Just like in the past, UCSD’s Junior Varsity 1 Team had a very strong performance, beating each of their opponents 4-0 without losing a single match.

UCSD’s Women’s Varsity Team faced a tough opponent in Arizona State University, narrowly losing 2-3 overall. Freshmen Sophia Zhou and Athena Li showed a great effort in the deciding Doubles match. Other than that, they were able to comfortably defeat their other opponent schools. 

This has been a very fun and valuable experience for the team. They will be working hard to improve these next few weeks and are determined to do even better at our next tournament in Winter Quarter!