TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The test of playing nationally-ranked opponents continued Saturday for No. 15 San Diego Men's Tennis in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend finale, as the Toreros topped No. 10 Florida State on their home courts to claim one of the 16 spots at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in a few weeks time. 
 
Despite not winning the doubles point, the Toreros were able to bounce back, winning four of the six singles matches to earn the upset over the 10th-ranked Seminoles, who were the top seed and hosts in the four-team region.  
 
Florida State's Joshua Dous-Karpenschif and Erik Schiessl, ranked No. 112, took down 88th-ranked Toreros senior Iiro Vasa and graduate student Savriyan Danilov in 6-3 fashion. In addition, FSU's Jamie Connel and Jan Sebesta won 6-2 over the Toreros duo of freshman Adrien Berrut and graduate student Blake Kasday to take the first point of the dual match. The other doubles match featured two, top-10 pairs, a battle between national No. 1 duo redshirt junior Stian Klaassen and junior Oliver Tarvet from USD and No. 6 Alex Bulte and Youcef Rihane from the Seminoles. Klassen and Tarvet jumped out to a 5-2 lead before the two other doubles matches wrapped up, seeing their match unfinished. 
 
In singles, Berrut, Klaassen and Danilov each jumped out to 4-0 leads in their respective first sets. Danilov and Klaassen both took 5-0 leads, leading to respective 6-2 and 6-1 set wins. Berrut went on to win his first set 6-4 over Dous-Karpenschif.  In addition, a top-25 singles match ensued between No. 15 Tarvet and No. 22 Connel. Tarvet took a 5-1 lead before winning the first set 6-1. Overall, USD won five out of the six first sets to regain the momentum. Azariah Rusher took down Toreros junior Neo Niedner 6-3 for the Seminoles' lone first set win. 

Tarvet, Danilov, Klaassen and Vasa jumped out to 2-0 leads in the second set. Danilov would get USD's first point, pulling out a smooth 6-2, 6-0 win over Schiessl. Then, it was Klaassen, ranked No. 71 in the country. He won his match handily too, 6-1, 6-2 over Rihane to give USD the lead in the dual match, 2-1. Tarvet then followed with a dominanty 6-1, 6-0 win over the 22nd-ranked Connel to give the Toreros a 3-1 lead.

USD then needed Vasa, Berrut or Niedner to win their match to get the dual win. However, it was a grind over the final three singles matches, as they all went three sets. Vasa was able to fight back to be down 5-4 before losing his match on a breakpoint opportunity to Bulte.  
  
Despite dropping his opening set to Rusher, Niedner was able to claw back with a 6-4 second set win to force a decisive third set. Niedner took the first point and despite being down 2-1, he clawed back to take a 5-3 lead on an ace. On match point, Niedner was able to outlast Rusher on the rally to win the third set, 6-3, and give USD the upset win. 

No. 15 USD keeps its perfect dual match record alive at 4-0, three straight over ranked opponents away from home, while No. 10 Florida State falls to 6-2. USD clinches one of 16 spots in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, slated for Feb. 14-18. 
 
Results 

#15 San Diego 4, #10 Florida State 2
Doubles 

1. #1 Stian Klassen/Oliver Tarvet (USD) vs. #6 Alex Bulte/Youcef Rihane (FSU), 5-2 (unfinished)
2. #112 Joshua Dous-Karpenschif/Erik Schiessl (FSU) def. #88 Iiro Vasa/Savriyan Danilov (USD), 6-3 
3. Jamie Connel/Jan Sebesta (FSU) def. #72 Adrien Berrut/Blake Kasday (USD), 6-2 

 
Singles

1. #15 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. #22 Jaime Connel (FSU), 6-1, 6-0
2. Alex Bulte (FSU) def. Iiro Vasa (USD), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. #29 Savriyan Danilov (USD) def. Erik Schiessl (FSU), 6-2, 6-0
4. #71 Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Youcef Rihane (FSU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Adrien Berrut (USD) vs. Joshua Dous-Karpenschif (FSU), 6-4, 4-6, 4-4 (unfinished)
6. Neo Niedner (USD) def. Azariah Rusher (FSU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Order of Finish: Doubles: 3, 2; Singles: 3, 4, 1, 2, 6