April 7, 2010
SAN DIEGO - The 58th-ranked University of San Diego men's tennis team battled back after being down 3-0 against cross-town rival No. 75 San Diego State University in the annual city-championship match, but could not sustain the rally, falling by a final of 4-3 Wednesday evening at the USD West Tennis Courts.
With the loss, the Toreros fall to 9-7, while the Aztecs improve to 6-11 in dual match play.
"It was a great set up for a great day. The end result just fell short. The guys battled hard, competed hard...gutted it out. We just fell a little short today," said head coach Brett Masi.
The doubles once again did in the Toreros, as the Aztecs swept all three matches by identical marks of 8-4.
San Diego would quickly find itself deep in the hole, after dropping the first two singles matches completed at Court #3 and soon after at Court #5.
However, the steady play of sophomore Nikola Bubnic and junior Dean Jackson at Court #1 and #2 put USD right back in the hunt. Bubnic, ranked No. 94 in the ITA singles polls, continued his success at No. 2, as he disposed of Juan Gomez in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. With the win, Bubnic has garnered 13 singles victories in the 2010 dual campaign. Jackson, now toting a record of 11-1 at No. 1, followed suit, eclipsing the Aztecs' Achim Vladimirschii. The German native battled in the first set tiebreaker, taking the break point by a final of 9-7. He would then close out the match with a 6-4 second set victory.
With two matches remaining, San Diego looked to rally back to a 3-all tie. At Court #6, Abdullah Hashem delivered on the mission, taking a three set victory from Jakub Kowalski. After falling 4-6 in the first set, Hashem fought hard to take the next two sets, 6-4, 6-1, and put the Toreros back in contention for a match triumph.
In dramatic fashion, the final contest at Court #4 came down to a third set tiebreaker between the Toreros' Nils Schive and the Aztecs' Luis Rattenhuber. The San Diego counterparts see-sawed back and forth in the final set, as Schive battled back after being down 4-1 to go up 6-5. But Rattenhuber evened the score to force a break point, ultimately outlasting Schive to take the match win as well as the final result of 4-3.
With only three matches remaining before the WCC Tournament, the Toreros will set out on its final road trip this Sunday to face Fresno State and then Sacramento State on Monday. San Diego's last match of the regular season will be against UCLA in Los Angeles on April 20th.
#75 SDSU 4, #58 USD 3
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
USD West Tennis Courts
DOUBLES
1. Vaglietti/Vladimirschii (SDSU) def. Jackson/Schive (USD) - 8-4
2. #76 Gomez/Rattenhuber (SDSU) def. Powers/Visy (USD) - 8-4
3. Feliz/Schulz van Endert (SDSU) def. Bubnic/Hashem (USD) - 8-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
#75 SDSU wins doubles point.
SINGLES
1. Dean Jackson (USD) def. Achim Vladimirschii (SDSU) - 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
2. Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. Juan Gomez (SDSU) - 6-4, 6-2
3. Giovanni Vaglietti (SDSU) def. Thibaut Visy (USD) - 6-1, 6-1
4. Luis Rattenhuber (SDSU) def. Nils Schive (USD) - 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1)
5. Andre Feliz (SDSU) def. Casey Powers (USD) - 6-1, 6-2
6. Abdullah Hashem (USD) def. Jakub Kowalski (SDSU) - 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 2, 1, 6, 4
#75 SDSU wins match, 4-3.
Records: #58 USD 9-7, #75 SDSU 6-11
