SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco men's tennis team picked up its first West Coast Conference victory of the spring, downing the visiting Gonzaga Bulldogs 4-3 at the California Tennis Club on Saturday.

"The Dons prevailed today at home in a tough battle," noted USF head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida. "The Bulldogs got on us early with a win at No. 3 and then we started to fight back and won at 1 and 4.  JJ showed great poise in the end against a tough opponent, to get the clinch at No. 2."

USF started in a hole, dropping the first two points of the day before Oliver Poysti downed Ronzai Saruombe 6-4, 6-4 on Court 4 to get the Dons on the board. USF's No. 1 player, Mert Zincirli, nabbed a straight-set win over Ruadhan O'Sullivan to knot the match score at two apiece.

The Dons and Bulldogs traded points in the next two matches to finish, with Gonzaga taking the point at No. 6 before Paul Giraud dispatched Emilio Moreno, 7-6(3), 6-3 to again keep the match locked in a tie. Coming down to the final point of the day, Johan Joenhagen pulled out the 6-3, 7-6(6) win on Court 2 to take the team win and send the Bulldogs away empty handed.

With the win, the Dons improve to 5-11 (1-3 WCC) in the dual match season, while Gonzaga drops to 6-5 (0-1 WCC).

Next, USF faces off with its final two non-conference opponents on the schedule, hosting Drexel on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at The Olympic Club in a men's and women's doubleheader against the Dragons. Then, the Dons take on Cal Poly Friday at 1 p.m. on the usual home courts at the California Tennis Club.

 

USF Dons defeat Gonzaga 4-3 today in WCC Conference play. Junior Johan Jonhagen clinches the win. Go Dons! usfdons usfathletics #westcoastconference

A post shared by USF DONS MENS TENNIS (@usfdonstennis) on Mar 25, 2017 at 3:43pm PDT

 
USF 4, Gonzaga 3
Saturday, March 25 | San Francisco (California Tennis Club)

Singles competition – Order of finish (3, 4, 1, 6, 5, 2)
1. Mert Zincirli (USF) def. Ruadhan O'Sullivan (GON); 6-1, 6-2
2. Johan Joenhagen (USF) def. Vincent Rettke (GON); 6-3, 7-6 (10-6)
3. Sam Feit (GON) def. Ryan Marker (USF); 6-2, 6-1
4. Oliver Poysti (USF) def. Ronzai Saurombe (GON); 6-4, 6-4
5. Paul Giraud (USF) def. Emilio Moreno (GON); 7-6 (10-3), 6-3
6. Kyle Everly (GON) def. Lucas Marinelli (USF); 6-4, 6-3
 
Doubles competition – Order of finish (2, 1, 3)
1. Sam Feit/Ruadhan O'Sullivan (GON) def. Christian Brockstedt/Mert Zincirli (USF); 6-4
2. Jarod Mah/Johan Joenhagen (USF) def. Kyle Everly/Vincent Rettke (GON); 6-1
3. Ronzai Saurombe/Simon Homedes Dualde (GON) def. Oliver Poysti/Paul Giraud (USF); 7-6 (10-4)