SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco men's tennis team notched an exciting 4-3 victory over Fresno State Saturday afternoon at the Cal Club.
"This was a big win for the program and a huge confidence builder for our guys heading into the mid-section of our season," head coach
Pablo Pires de Almeida said. "Guys showed a lot of composure against solid opponents at every position and competed like champs in front of the 100-plus crowd of Cal Club members and USF students."
With the victory, the USF evens its season record to 3-3, while Fresno State drops to 2-5 on the year. The win breaks a string of four-straight losses to the Bulldogs over the last five seasons. After beating Idaho in Seattle, Wash., last weekend, the Dons have won their last two matches.
The Dons took the doubles point to open the day with the No. 2 pair of
Germain Bahri and
Timothy Tan clinching the point after a hard-fought 8-5 victory over Fresno State's John Darmstaedter and Alexandros Georgio Vakouftsis. USF's top tandem of
Bernardo Saraiva and
Nils Skajaa also found success against their opponents, winning 8-6.
In singles action, Skajaa gave the Dons a 2-0 lead in the match after a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win over Sam MacNeil from the No. 2 position before Fresno State got on the board. USF's
James Tallman won a tight two-setter over Darmstaedter, hanging on for a 7-6(2), 6-4 win. Saraiva's three-set victory over Sai Kartik Nakireddi clinched the match victory for USF. Fresno State went on to claim wins at Nos. 5 and 6, but the day's outcome had already been decided.
Up next for the Dons is a double-header in Fort Worth, Texas. USF is slated to play a neutral-court match against South Carolina-Upstate along with facing TCU Saturday in the Lone Star State.
San Francisco 4, Fresno State 3
Feb. 15 | Cal Club | San Francisco, Calif.
Singles |
Order of finish: 2, 5, 3, 1*, 4, 6
No. 1 –
Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Sai Kartik Nakireddi (FS); 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
No. 2 –
Nils Skajaa (USF) def. Sam MacNeil (FS); 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 –
James Tallman (USF) def. John Darmstaedter (FS); 7-6(2), 6-4
No. 4 – Eric Komati (FS) def.
Germain Bahri (USF);6-4, 4-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Nikolas Papic (FS) def.
Christian Brockstedt (USF); 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 – Ethan Lopez (FS) def.
Thomas Takemoto (USF); 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-1
Doubles |
Order of finish: unknown
No. 1 – Saraiva/Skajaa (USF) def. Komati/Nakireddi (FS); 8-6
No. 2 – Bahri/Tan (USF) def. Darmstaedter/Vakouftsis (FS); 8-5
No. 3 – MacNeil/Papic (FS) def. Brockstedt/Takemoto (USF); 8-2
