SAN DIEGO -- USF took one more step to the West Coast Conference championship on Thursday by defeating Loyola Marymount, 4-1 in a quarterfinal match at the Barnes Tennis Center.

The win advances the Dons into Friday's semifinals, where USF will face No. 2 Pepperdine at 1:00 p.m.

USF secured the doubles point as the teams of Bernardo Saraiva and Nils Skajaa and Thomas Takemoto and Vasco Valverde picked up wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions after LMU notched a victory at the No. 2 spot.

The Dons closed out the Lions by picking up three singles victories to win the match, 4-1.

Saraiva gave the Dons a 2-1 lead in the match with a win at the No. 1 position. After taking the first set from Charles Boyce, 6-1, Saraiva led 4-2 in the second when Boyce was forced to retire with an injury.

The Lions cut the lead to 2-1 as Luke Bohuslav defeated Johan Samuelsson, 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 6 position.

Takemoto pushed USF's lead to 3-1 with a straight set victory over Joat Farah, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4. 

Senior James Tallman provided the clinching point for the Dons, downing Felix Van Kann, 6-4, 1-6 and 6-3 in a back-and-forth match at the No. 3 position.

The match between Skajaa and LMU's Errol Smith was unfinished with Skajaa trialing 1-3 in the third.
 
"James (Tallman) was able to get his third set and clinch the match to give us an opportunity to play in the semis," said Pires de Almeida. "We will live to fight another day and look forward to tomorrow."

USF dropped a tightly contested match to the Waves in early April, falling 4-2 at the Cal Club. A win win over Pepperdine would advance the Dons into the WCC Championship title match against either No. 1 seed San Diego or No. 4 Pacific, which meet in the other semifinal on the opposite side of the bracket.
 
 

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No. 3 San Francisco 4, No. 6 Loyola Marymount 1
 
Singles | Order of Finish:  1,5,2
 
No. 1 Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Charles Boyce (LMU): 6-1, 4-3 ret.
No. 2 Nils Skajaa (USF) vs. Errol Smith (LMU);  6-4, 6-7(5) DNF
No. 3 James Tallman (USF) def. Felix Van Kann (LMU); 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
No. 4 Thomas Takemoto (USF) def. Joat Farah (LMU); 6-3, 7-5
No. 5 Vasco Valverde (USF) def. Cristobal Rivera (LMU);  6-4, 2-2 DNF
No. 6 Luke Bohuslav (LMU) def. Johan Samuelsson (USF); 6-1, 6-0
 
Doubles | Order of Finish: 2,1,3
 
No. 1 Saraiva/Skajaa (USF) def. Smith/Farah (LMU); 8-3
No. 2 Boyce/Rivera (LMU) def.Tallman/Brockstedt (USF); 8-3
No. 3 Takemoto/Valverde (USF) def. Volmari/Felix Van Kann (LMU) ; 8-4