SAN DIEGO – The No. 30 University of San Diego men's tennis team advanced to its eighth consecutive WCC title match on Friday, defeating Portland in the semifinals, 4-1.
San Diego earned the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 2 (
Oliver Tarvet/
Stian Klaassen) and a 7-6 win at No. 1 (
Iiro Vasa/
Sacchitt Sharrma).
In singles, freshman
Neo Niedner improved to 6-1 against WCC opponents on the season with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 6.
Vasa extended USD's lead to 3-0 after a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 2. After Portland answered with a win on court one,
Marvin Schaber clinched the match at No. 5 by a gritty score of 7-6, 7-5.
"It was a great match between two quality programs today," said head coach
Ryan Keckley. "I was happy with our competitiveness and energy throughout the course of the dual. We need to dial in our focus and play more to our individual identities immediately in order to have a shot at taking down a program like Pepperdine tomorrow. We are excited for the opportunity to play for a conference championship!"
San Diego improves to 17-6 on the season, and will face No. 37 Pepperdine in the title match tomorrow afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
San Diego 4, Portland 1
Doubles
No. 1 –
Iiro Vasa and
Sacchitt Sharrma (USD) def. Sema Pankin/Eleftherios Neos (UP), 7-6
No. 2 –
Oliver Tarvet and
Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Nicolas Ocana/Nikolas Tvedt (UP), 6-3
No. 3 –
Marvin Schaber and
Lambert Ruland (USD) vs. Issa Yoshida/Cade Fernando (UP), 4-2, uf
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles
No. 1 – Sema Pankin (UP) def.
Oliver Tarvet (USD), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 –
Iiro Vasa (USD) def. Eleftherios Neos (UP), 7-6 (5), 6-4
No. 3 –
Sacchitt Sharrma (USD) vs. Nicolas Ocana (UP), 6-7 (4), 6-1, 0-2, uf
No. 4 –
Stian Klaassen (USD) vs. Nikolas Tvedt (UP), 6-4, 4-6, 3-2, uf
No. 5 –
Marvin Schaber (USD) def Maxim Groysman (UP), 7-6 (4), 7-5
No. 6 –
Neo Niedner (USD) def Issa Yoshida (UP), 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 5
UP NEXT
No. 1 seed San Diego will face No. 2 seed Pepperdine in the WCC Championship on Saturday at 2:00 PM.
