SAN FRANCISCO – The University of San Francisco men's tennis team picked up its first WCC victory Saturday afternoon, knocking off Loyola Marymount, 5-2, at the Cal Club.
The contest was played with the singles matches coming before the doubles, contrary to the standard NCAA tennis format.
The match had all the makings of a tight one early on, as the Dons (8-5-1, 1-2 WCC) and Lions (2-15, 0-3 WCC) found themselves tied, 2-2, after the first four singles matches.
William Schumacher and
Bernardo Saraiva came up big for the Dons down the stretch, however, as each would go on to defeat his LMU counterpart to give USF the 4-2 advantage and render the doubles point inconsequential.
“It was good to see the guys close a match out today with opportunities on the line,” said USF coach
Peter Bartlett. “LMU is a good team and without the extra focus closing the match that could go the other way.”
“I think some of the tough matches against the high quality opponents we've playing lately really helped us today. The WCC conference is definitely a dog fight right now and we'll take any win we can get."
The Dons return to the court on Wednesday, April 3 at 11 a.m. when they play host to Hawaii in the final nonconference match of the season.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
DOUBLES:
1. Bernardo Saraiva /
Nils Skajaa (USF) def. Sebastian Bustamante / Todd Volmari (LMU) 8-4
2. Daniel Simko / Jack Zapala (LMU) def.
Jonathon Knowlman /
Richard Bucalem (USF) 8-5
3. Thai Tu /
Germain Bahri (USF) def. Felix Van Kann / Cristobal Rivera (LMU) 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES:
1. Thai Tu (USF) def. Othar Kordsachia (LMU) 6-2, 6-3
2.
Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Nicholas Bjerke (LMU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
3.
William Schumacher (USF) def. Todd Volmari (LMU) 6-2, 7-6
4. Sebastian Bustamante (LMU) def.
Germain Bahri (USF) 6-3, 6-3
5.
Nils Skajaa (USF) def. Cristobal Rivera (LMU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Felix Van Kann (LMU) def.
Richard Bucalem (USF) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 6, 3, 2
FINAL SCORE: USF 5, LMU 2
