CHAMPAIGN, IL – A historic season with countless accolades came to an end for No. 6 August Holmgren of the University of San Diego men's tennis team, as the redshirt senior fell in the NCAA Singles championship match to Florida's No. 1-seeded Ben Shelton, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6.  
 
"It's tough to put into words what August has done for this program," said head coach Ryan Keckley. "He deserves all the praise he gets because of what he puts into his game and what he has done for USD tennis. Today wasn't the outcome we wanted, but this week showed you just how good August is and how much faith we have in him to take that next step into his career as a professional athlete. August will go down as one of the best to play the game for the Toreros!"
 
Holmgren took an early 2-0 lead in the first set, but Shelton answered with three straight. After Shelton went up 30-0 in the next game, Holmgren swept the next four points to lock it at 3-3. Holmgren eventually won the first, 6-4.
 
Shelton jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, and eventually won, 6-3. In the third set, Shelton took the first two games, but Holmgren bounced back to cut the deficit to 2-1. Shelton responded with four of the next five points to seal the win.
 
Holmgren's monumental season includes NCAA Singles Runner-Up, WCC Player of the Year, WCC Regular Season and Tournament Champion, 33-6 (7-0 WCC) singles record, led Toreros to No. 17 team ranking and highest final team ranking since 1990, ranked No. 1 singles player by ITA on 12/8, winner of the ITA Fall National Championship, ITA All-American Championship Runner-Up, and NCAA Doubles Championship participant. The Denmark native was also the first Torero to appear in the NCAA Singles Championship since Pierrick Ysern in 2005.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Round of 64
#6 August Holmgren (USD) def. #32 Noah Schachter (Texas A&M), 6-0, 6-2
 
Round of 32
#6 August Holmgren (USD) def. #52 Jonas Eriksson Ziverts (Arizona), 6-4, 6-1
 
Round of 16
#6 August Holmgren (USD) def. #33 Brian Cernoch (North Carolina), 6-2, 6-4
 
Quarterfinals
#6 August Holmgren (USD) def. #61 Eduardo Nava (Wake Forest), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0
 
Semifinals
#6 August Holmgren (USD) def. #28 Sam Riffice (Florida), 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
 
Championship
#2 Ben Shelton (Florida) def. #6 August Holmgren (USD), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2