Jan. 24, 2004

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University men's tennis team had its 24-match home winning streak snapped in its opening match of the 2004 season, falling 4-3 to 42nd-ranked San Diego on Saturday afternoon at the Goldring Tennis Stadium. Tulane (0-1) was playing without 37th-ranked junior Dmitriy Koch and sophomore Patrizio Maucci, who are both injured. The Green Wave earned the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead, but San Diego (2-0) quickly evened things up with a win at No. 6 singles. Tulane picked up a win at No. 1 singles as eighth-ranked Michael Kogan stopped 11th-ranked Pierrick Ysern, 6-2, 7-6. A win by Tulane's Hannu Piiroinen at No. 3 singles gave the Wave three points, but the Toreros earned victories at No. 2 and No. 4 to knot the match at 3-3.

The match was decided in a thriller at No. 5 singles, with San Diego's Robbie Blair upending Tulane newcomer Jacobo Hernandez. After dropping the opening set 6-2, Hernandez battled back and evened the match with a 7-6 victory in the second set. In the third set, both players battled through, but Blair held on for a 7-2 win in the tiebreaker to win the set and the match, 7-6.

No. 42 San Diego 4, No. 16 Tulane 3

Doubles: 1. Ysern/Ponsrikul (USD) def. Kogan/Hernandez (Tulane): 8-5 2. Piiroinen/Angelinos (Tulane) def. Beuque/Plotnik (USD): 9-8 (7-4) 3. Vasiljevic/Goulet (Tulane) def. Blair/Koristovic (USD): 8-6

Singles: 1. #8 Michael Kogan (Tulane) def. #11 Pierrick Ysern (USD): 6-2, 7-6 2. Nic Beuque (USD) def. David Goulet (Tulane): 6-3, 7-6 3. Hannu Piiroinen (Tulane) def. Mirz Koristovic (USD): 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 4. #75 Jason Ponsrikul (USD) def. Theodoros Angelinos (Tulane): 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 5. Robbie Blair (USD) def. Jacobo Hernandez (Tulane): 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 6. Jeff Das (USD) def. Maxime Lacroix (Tulane): 6-0, 6-0

Records: Tulane (0-1) San Diego (2-0)