SAN DIEGO — A top-15 nationally ranked dual meet matchup ensued as No. 9 San Diego men's tennis welcomed No. 12 Oklahoma to the Hogan Tennis Center Saturday afternoon.
It was a back-and-forth affair in both the doubles and singles sessions. However, the Toreros were able to prevail and keep their perfect season alive in a 4-0 victory over the 12
th ranked Sooners.
"We have had quite the rivalry with this Oklahoma team for the past six years," said USD head coach
Ryan Keckley. "I told (Oklahoma head coach) Nick Crowell after the match that his team is the kind of team that makes us better win or lose. We were on the wrong side of things last year in Norman and the right side of things today with us being at home in front of an electric crowd. The city and University of San Diego showed up to support its own, and I could not be more proud of the turnout and how our boys competed in front of these fans. We were a few points away from that score line looking very different, but we stayed the course and came up with some big points when it mattered."
The doubles session started off with Oklahoma's pair of Kholo Montsi and Luis Alvarez taking down San Diego's pair of
Savriyan Danilov and
Iiro Vasa, ranked No. 56. The Toreros also faced early deficits in the other two matches. However, the Toreros were able to fight back and secure the doubles point for a 1-0 dual match lead.
USD's
Oliver Tarvet and
Stian Klaassen, ranked as the top duo in the country, were able to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win 6-4 against the Sooners' Oscar Lacides and Bruno Nhavene.
In addition, San Diego's newest pairing of
Neo Niedner and
Adrien Berrut slugged out a 7-5 doubles set win against Oklahoma's Asahi Harazaki and Alejandro Melero after also trailing early.
Niedner and Berrut were able to give the Toreros (7-0) some critical momentum with their doubles win against the Sooners (7-2) as the dual match transitioned into singles.
Like in doubles, the Sooners took early first-set leads. In the six singles matches, Oklahoma took three 2-1 leads and also had a 3-1 lead. However, San Diego responded back as all six matches were either tied or within one point of each other.
Niedner continued his energy into singles, taking a critical 5-4 lead on Melero. After the Sooners took the first three singles sets, the Torero junior was the first USD player to win the first set.
Danilov trailed 5-4 before tying the first set at 5-5 and taking a 6-5 game point lead. That match against Montsi went into a tiebreak as the Torero graduate was able to grind out a 7-6 first set win.
No. 2
Oliver Tarvet had a 5-4 lead on No. 81 Oscar Lacides and was able to win the first set 6-4. He started the second set with momentum, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. That lead grew to earning set point before Lacides could win a game, en route to a 6-0 set win and the second point for the Toreros.
Niedner and Danilov, who both won their first sets in tight fashion, held on the one-point leads – 4-3 and 3-2, respectively – in the second set, looking to win in straight sets. Niedner was able to reach set point before winning 6-3 and giving the Toreros their third point.
Danilov and Montsi were locked at a 4-4 tie in the second set. The USD graduate student took a 5-4 lead, en route to a 6-4 win. That win gave USD the critical fourth point to win the dual match in a battle of top-15 nationally ranked teams.
Among other singles matches that went unfinished, USD's
Stian Klaassen, ranked No. 94, took an early 4-1 second set lead, trying to find the momentum after losing the first set 6-2. He was able to win the second 6-1 to force an important third set.
Berrut and Vasa were trying to match Klaassen and force a decisive third set. After Berrut lost the first set 6-3 to Jordan Hasson and Vasa lost to Alvarez 6-4, both Toreros were able to take 6-5 leads. However, Hasson tied things up at six, extending the dual match as USD came moments away from taking the match prior to Danilov ending the dual match.
UP NEXT
USD will head on the road to Baylor and SMU in Texas next weekend for the ITA Team Indoor National Championships. This comes after the Toreros qualified a couple weeks ago in the Tallahassee Region of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Tournament. USD will be one of 16 teams from across the country competing Feb. 14-18 in the Lone Star State.
RESULTS:
DOUBLES
- #1 Stian Klassen/Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. Oscar Lacides/Bruno Nhavene (OU), 6-4
- Kholo Montso/Luis Alvarez (OU) def. #56 Iiro Vasa/Savriyan Danilov (USD), 6-2
- Neo Niedner/Adrien Berrut (USD) def. Asahi Harazaki/Alejandro Melero (OU), 7-5
SINGLES
- #2 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. #81 Oscar Lacides (OU), 6-4, 6-0
- #34 Savriyan Danilov (USD) def. Kholo Montsi (OU), 7-6, 6-4
- Iiro Vasa (USD) vs. #82 Luis Alvarez (OU), 4-6, 6-6 (unfinished)
- #94 Stian Klaassen (USD) vs. Orel Kimhi (OU) 2-6, 6-1, 3-3 (unfinished)
- Adrien Berrut (USD) vs. Jordan Hasson (OU), 3-6, 6-6 (unfinished)
- Neo Niedner (USD) def. Bruno Nhavene (OU) 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles: 2, 1, 3; Singles: 1, 6, 2
