Men's Tennis | 4/24/2015 5:35:00 PM

SAN DIEGO, Calif.- After a quarterfinal upset against Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference Championships, the USF men's tennis team couldn't repeat on the third day of the tournament. The Dons fell 4-1 to No. 1 seed and ITA ranked No. 42 Pepperdine at the Barnes Tennis Center this afternoon in the semifinals.
 
USF concludes its season with a 15-8 record, putting together three straight seasons in which finished with a winning record on the Hilltop. The Dons seeded 3^rd in the conference championship faced a tough and competitive battle against the No. 1 seed Pepperdine today, who they had previously fallen 4-2 against the Waves earlier this April.
 
The Waves took the lead against the Dons as they picked up Nos. 1, 2 and 3 doubles. James Tallman and Christian Brockstedt came close against Lautaro Pane and Pedro Iamachkine at No. 2 doubles to fall by only two games, 8-6.
 
Pepperdine made it hard for the Dons to pick up their play as they took No. 3 and 6 singles right away in straight sets giving the Waves a three point lead to only need one more win in singles to take the match.
 
All-WCC First Team recipient, Bernardo Saraiva answered back with a two-set win against Guilherme Hadlich 7-5, 6-0.  Saraiva closed out his collegiate career for the Dons with 60 total wins in singles action and an astonishing overall winning record this season of 24-5. For his efforts in the WCC Tournament, Saraiva was named to the WCC's All-Tournament team at the No. 1 singles position.
 
With the score 3-1, and the final three singles matches stretched-out to the third set, the Dons looked to make a comeback.
 
Two of USF's unfinished matches were headed in the direction of favoring the Dons. In Vasco Valverde's unfinished match at No. 5 singles against Luca Marquardits, Valverde had picked up the first set 6-1,fell 1-6 and was up in the third set 4-2. Nils Skajaa who dropped in the first set 7-5 against Rakshay Thakkar clinched the second set tiebreaker 7(6)-6.
 
However, the Waves were able to overcome the Dons competitive play at No. 4 singles to ultimately claim the win and advance to the finals. Takemoto did not make it easy for Iamachkine. Takemoto took Iamachkine to three sets before he ultimately came up short, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. 
 
With three seniors leaving, the Dons look to move forward and add new dimensions to their team next season.
 

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No. 3 San Francisco 1, No. 2 Pepperdine 4
 
Singles | Order of Finish: 3,6,1,4
 
No. 1 #116 Bernardo Saraiva (USF) vs. Guilherme Hadlich (PEP); 7-5, 6-0
No. 2 Rakshay Thakkar (PEP) vs. Nils Skajaa (USF); 7-5, 6-7(6), 1-0 DNF
No. 3 Stefan Menichella (PEP) def. James Tallman (USF); 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 Pedro Iamachkine (PEP) def. Thomas Takemoto (USF); 6-2, 5-7, 6-0
No. 5 Vasco Valverde (USF) vs. Luca Marquard (PEP); 6-1,1-6, 4-2 DNF
No. 6 Lautaro Pane (PEP) def. Johan Samuelsson (USF); 6-0, 6-3
 
Doubles | Order of Finish: 1,2,3
 
No. 1 Saraiva/Skajaa (USF) def. Thakkar/Hadlich (PEP); 8-2
No. 2 Pane/Iamachkine (PEP) def. Tallman/Brockstedt (USF); 8-6
No. 3 Hill/Menichella (PEP) def. Takemoto/Valverde (USF); 8-6
 

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WCC All-Tournament Doubles Team
No. 1 - Jordan Angus and Filip Vittek, San Diego
No. 2 - Lautaro Pane and Pedro Iamachkine, Pepperdine
No. 3 - Ciaran Fitzgerald and Geoff Fosso, San Diego

WCC All-Tournament Singles Team
No. 1 - Bernardo Saraiva, San Francisco
No. 2 - Filip Vittek, San Diego
No. 3 - Jordan Angus,San Diego
No. 4 - Pedro Iamachkine, Pepperdine
No. 5 - Daniel Alameh, Pacific
No. 6 - Lautaro Pane, Pepperdine