SAN DIEGO — The University of San Francisco's men's tennis team spent a well fought weekend in Southern California against West Coast Conference foe - San Diego - and San Diego State.
San Francisco was not able to keep the doubles streak alive against the Toreros. The Dons fell 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center. USF made it an eventful Sunday afternoon, although the team lost in a heart break, 4-3, it was
Ryan Marker,
Paul Giraud and
Nitzan Ricklis who gave the Dons their momentum keeping it a competitive match.
On Saturday afternoon, all three Toreros started out the day with victories in the No. 1 and 2 spot. In singles play, San Diego continued to get off to a quick start after beating Marker, Giraud, and Romeo Jivraj.
Nitzan Ricklis and
Phuc Huynh were the only Dons to clinch victories in tiebreakers. Ricklis faced Toreros' Nico Borter in the No. 6 spot when Ricklis took care of the first set, 6-4, and Borter securing a 7-5 victory in the second, but Ricklis ran away with a determined 10-8 win in the third. It wasn't any different for Huynh, when he took his match to the third set and tallied another victory for the Dons beating Toreros' Guss Koevermans, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.
"Nitzan and Phuc kept battling and lost their second sets. They both played super tiebreakers to finish their matches and won them to give us our 2 points. Very good wins for our freshman of Phuc and Nitzan today. They had to beat solid players from USD and showed a lot of poise in their breakers," said head coach Pablo Pires Almeida.
RESULTS - San Diego 5, San Francisco 2
Doubles- 2,2
Borter/Osorio (USD) def. Marker/Giraud - 6-1
Koevermans/Norfeldt (USD) def. Daniel/Huynh - 6-4
Holmgren/Dufort (USD) vs. Ricklis/Jivraj - 5-3, unfinished
Singles- 2,4,6,5,1,3
Osorio (USD) def. Marker - 2-6, 6-0, 6-0
Holmgren (USD) def. Giraud - 6-0, 6-2
Ricklis def. Borter (USD) - 6-4, 5-7, 10-8
Norfeldt (USD) def. Jivraj - 6-1, 6-2
Huynh def. Koevermans (USD) - 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
Dufort (USD) def. Daniel - 7-5, 6-2
Kurtz (USD) def. Woodland - 6-0, 6-2
San Francisco traveled to San Diego State and even though it was a tough loss, the Dons showed great performances all around.
The Aztecs saw their early doubles point when the duo Jan Kirchhoff and Ignacio Martinez pulled away with a tough win to the Dons' Ricklis and Jivraj, 7-6(2). San Francisco then captured its first decision, when
Oz Daniel and
Phuc Huynh took down Nicholas Mitchell and Gavin Spencer with a 6-2 score in the No. 2 spot before Aztecs' Sander Gjoels-Gjoels-Andersen and Rafael Gonzalez Almazan secured its defeat over Giraud and Marker at No. 1, 6-3.
It was all up to the singles competition for the Dons and the Aztecs to secure the winning team. The Dons started out in singles due to the rain delay, but that did not set back Marker when he went up 6-0 in his first set against Aztecs' Fabian Roensdorf and closed out the second set, winning 6-3 at No. 1. Aztecs' Arnaud Restifo and
Oz Daniel competed at the No. 6 spot where Restifo came through with a 7-5, 6-4 win. The Aztecs kept setting themselves apart when they extended its lead to 3-1, when Gonzalez Almazan beat
Phuc Huynh at the No. 5 spot, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Giraud dominated his sets to give the Dons momentum after prevailing a 7-6(7), 7-6(2) victory over Gjoels-Anderson. At the No. 2 spot, Jivraj fell in a clinching point over Kirchhoff, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. With the day coming to an end, Ricklis pulled away from Martinez for the 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-0 win.
"It was a really tough loss today for the Dons, but we tasted it and now we need to do a better job at the end of sets. Great performances from Ryan, Paul and Nitzan today," said head coach Pablo Pires Almeida.
RESULTS - San Diego State 4, San Francisco 3
Singles- 2,1,3
Anderson/Gonzalez (SDSU) def. Marker/Giraud - 6-3
Daniel/Huynh def. Mitchell/Spencer (SDSU)- 6-2
Kirchhoff/Martinez (SDSU) def. Ricklis/Jivraj - 7-6(3)
Singles- 1,6,5,2,4,3
Ryan Marker def. Roensdorf (SDSU) - 6-0, 6-3
Paul Giraud def. Anderson (SDSU) - 7-6(6), 7-6(1)
Nitzan Ricklis def. Martinez (SDSU) - 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-0
Kirchhoff (SDSU) def. Romeo Jivraj - 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Gonzalez (SDSU) def.
Phuc Huynh - 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Restifo (SDSU) def.
Oz Daniel - 7-5, 7-5
Hough (SDSU) def.
David Woodland - 6-1, 6-3
