Jan. 22, 2011
SAN DIEGO, Calif.- Torero head coach Brett Masi wanted to start his second season at the helm on the right foot and he did just that as the University of San Diego men's tennis team tallied a pair of wins in a double-header on Saturday afternoon from USD's West Courts. The Toreros topped UC San Diego 5-2 in the morning matchup and finished the day with a 6-1 defeat of #38 BYU in the afternoon. The #58 Toreros open the season 2-0, while UC San Diego drops to 0-1 and BYU falls to 2-2 on the year.
USD got started bright and early by winning four of the six singles matches against the Tritons. Playing in the No. 1 position for the first match was junior Nikola Bubnic, who defeated Erik Elliott 7-5, 6-4. Freshman Clarke Spinosa made quick work of Chapman Chan at No. 2, 6-0, 6-1, while sophomore Thibaut Visy defeated Sam Ling in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. In the No. 4 slot was freshman Emilio Mora, who topped Vincent Nguyen 6-4, 6-3. UCSD's Junya Yoshida earned a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Torero senior Abdullah Hashem and freshman Moritz Melchior lost to Austin West 7-5, 7-6(5).
On the doubles side, seventh-ranked Patrick Pohlmann and Dean Jackson had to rally back from a slow start to defeat Elliott and West by a score of 9-7. Senior Nils Schive teamed with Mora to beat the Tritons' combo of Armaun Emami and Jason Wall 8-3, while Visy and Melchior bested Ling and Yoshida 8-5.
After a two-hour break the Toreros hit the court again to faceoff against the Cougars, opening with doubles play. Earning the first win for the Toreros was Spinosa and Visy, who defeated Spencer Smith and Ricardo Campos 8-1. Jackson and Pohlmann followed the victory with a win of their own, taking down Evan Urbina and Patrick Kawka 8-4, clinching the doubles point for the Toreros. Bubnic and Schive finished off the doubles sweep with an 8-7(7-3) win over Daniel Hwang and Georgy Batrakov.
USD kept the momentum going into singles as Visy made quick work of #88 Kawka 6-0, 6-1 and #31 Jackson earned the victory as Thomas Shubert was forced to retire trailing 6-3, 3-2. Spinosa clinched the victory for the Toreros with his hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Batrakov. Adding to the Toreros' successful day was Bubnic defeating #110 Urbina in a tight battle 7-6(5), 7-6(4), while Schive suffered the only loss for USD, falling to Hwang 6-2, 7-5. Capping off the win was Pohlmann, who fought past Smith by a score of 4-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(9).
The victory avenges last year's 6-1 road loss to the Cougars and gives the Toreros a 16-8 advantage in the all-time series.
"I thought the amount of effort our guys showed was great today," said head coach Brett Masi after the BYU match. "Obviously, it's not an ideal situation having to play two matches spaced out, but our guys competed all day long. It was great to open the season with a win over a team of BYU's caliber, but we know it's a long road and we want to keep this same intensity going."
USD continues their season next week when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to compete in the ITA National Indoor Qualifier being held Jan. 28th-30th.
USD 5, UC San Diego 2
Singles
1) Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. Erik Elliott (UCSD)- 7-5, 6-4
2) Clarke Spinosa (USD) def. Chapman Chan (UCSD)- 6-0, 6-1
3) Thibaut Visy (USD) def. Sam Ling (UCSD)- 6-2, 6-2
4) Emilio Mora (USD) def. Vincent Nguyen (UCSD)- 6-4, 6-3
5) Junya Yoshida (UCSD) def. Abdullah Hashem (USD)- 6-0, 6-2
6) Austin West (UCSD) def. Moritz Melchior (USD)- 7-5, 7-6(5)
Doubles
1) #7 Patrick Pohlmann/Dean Jackson (USD) def. Erik Elliott/Austin West (UCSD)- 9-7
2) Nils Schive/Emilio Mora (USD) def. Armaun Emami/Jason Wall (UCSD)- 8-3
3) Thibaut Visy/Moritz Melchior (USD) def. Sam Ling/Junya Yoshida (UCSD)- 8-5
USD 6, BYU 1
Singles
1) #31 Dean Jackson (USD) def. Thomas Shubert (BYU)- 6-3, 3-2, ret.
2) Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. #110 Evan Urbina (BYU)- 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
3) Patrick Pohlmann (USD) def. Spencer Smith (BYU)- 4-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(9)
4) Clarke Spinosa (USD) def. Georgy Batrakov (BYU)- 7-6(4), 6-2*
5) Thibaut Visy (USD) def. #88 Patrick Kawka (BYU)- 6-0, 6-1
6) Daniel Hwang (BYU) def. Nils Schive (USD)- 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: 5, 1, 4*, 2, 6, 3
Doubles
1) #7 Dean Jackson/Patrick Pohlmann (USD) def. Evan Urbina/Patrick Kawka (BYU)- 8-4
2) Nikola Bubnic/Nils Schive (USD) def. Daniel Hwang/Georgy Batrakov (BYU)- 8-7(7-3)
3) Clarke Spinosa/Thibaut Visy (USD) def. Spencer Smith/Ricardo Campos (BYU)- 8-1 USD wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
