Final Stats

RESULTS

SAN DIEGO - Nico Borter won his singles match in the No. 4 position to pull No. 44 San Diego even with No. 24 Memphis late but the Toreros could not complete the upset bid and fell to the Tigers, 4-3, Friday morning.

The Toreros (6-5) fell behind early after being edged by the Tigers (10-4) for the doubles point, and were down 3-1 in singles play. However, USD won the next two singles matches to level the score at 3-3.

Joel Gamerov came up just short in the deciding match at the No. 3 position, falling to Memphis' Kai Lemke, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

"I was extremely proud of how hard our young men played today," said head coach Ryan Keckley. "We didn't back down and stayed the course throughout the entire match."

Garrett Kurtz and David Norfeldt jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the No. 3 doubles position against the Tigers' Matt Story and Jan Pallares. However, Kurtz and Norfeldt could not quite hold on to their lead and dropped the next three games to give Memphis its first doubles match.

Gamerov and August Holmgren held a 5-4 lead against Kai Lemke and Marshall Sullivan in the No. 2 position but the match was halted after court three was decided. The Tigers' Andrew Watson and Ryan Peniston won at No. 1, 6-3, earlier in the match.

"Memphis is a solid team from top to bottom," said Keckley. "They are well-coached and played aggressive tennis from the start. We knew it was going to be a war with the Tigers and that's exactly what we got."

Memphis won at No. 6, 6-3, 6-2, to double its lead, 2-0, before Holmgren cut USD's deficit in half with a 6-3, 6-1, victory at the No. 1 position. He improved to 4-0 this season when playing in the top spot.

"August played some inspired tennis on court one," said Keckley. "He has come a long way in a short time and I couldn't be happier for his progress on the court."

The Tigers extended their lead to 3-1, when Andrew Watson defeated Gui Osorio, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, in the No. 2 position.

The Toreros continued to battle and won the next two singles matches to level the score at 3-3. Norfeldt defeated Chris Patzanovsky at No. 5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, and Borter defeated Felix Rauch at the No. 4 spot, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

With the score knotted at 3-3, the match came down to Gamerov and Lemke at No. 3. Lemke won the first set, 6-2, but Gamerov responded with a 6-3 win in the second set. Lemke took an early lead in the third set and sealed the victory for Memphis with a 6-1 decision.

The Toreros will look to bounce back Saturday when it takes on either No. 25 Harvard or No. 37 Texas Tech.