SAN DIEGO – Six Seed San Diego Men's Tennis saw its historic season come to an end in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, 2-4 at the hands of USC eight hours after the match first started following a rain delay.
 
The Toreros finish the year 25-4, tied for the second most wins in program history, most since 1989. USD broke numerous other records on the court on the year leading up to hosting its first ever NCAA Tournament Regional and record crowd this weekend at Hogan Tennis Center.
 
"Hell of a season from the Toreros," 10^th-year USD Head Coach Ryan Keckley said. "It doesn't feel great at this point just because of where I'm at, but I know after some reflection there will be a lot of positive takeaways from what we accomplished and what we did."
 
Among those accomplishments: sweeping All-American titles in the fall, posting the best start to a season in program history with eight straight wins, a quarterfinal appearance at the program's first Indoor National Champions, the highest ITA ranking in program history at No. 6, a record 22 regular season wins, sweeping all of WCC play and all the postseason awards and trophies the conference had to offer. The University of San Diego Men's Tennis team did it all with a core two players of the lineup out injured and battling back from several deficits in matches, especially on the road and in difficult conditions.
 
"I would like to see us get to that Round of 16 and that final-site competition, but it doesn't happen overnight," said Keckley. "We're going to keep building, we're going to keep working hard, we're going to keep asking the questions about how to get better and we'll be more prepared this time around next year."
 
"We'll be back"
 
That makes it three out of the last four seasons that the Toreros have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by the 21-time National Champion Trojans, sixth time overall. San Diego topped USC during the regular season, 4-1 on Feb. 27.
 
In doubles competition to start the eight-hour battle, the Trojans were the first to strike, claiming court three, 6-4. That left it to the Toreros on courts one and two to need to win out in order to claim the doubles point. And win out they did.
 
After being up 5-2, grad Savriyan Danilov and freshman Adrien Berrut dropped three consecutive games. They broke back, however, claiming a 7-5 win. Also coming down to the wire on main court at 5-5, No. 11 pairing of juniors Oliver Tarvet and Stian Klaassen rallied behind the vibrant crowd to a 7-5 win themselves, clutching the doubles point.
 
In singles play, it was junior Neo Niedner that was first across the finish line, winning 6-3, 6-4 on court four, pushing the USD lead to 2-0. USC had an answer, however, posting a straight set win of their own next-door on court five, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
 
Then, three hours into the match, it started to rain in San Diego. The match would remain in a delay for the next four and a half hours, finally picking back up at 7:30 p.m..
 
Not long after play resumed, down in their third sets, two Toreros on the top three courts fell, seeing USC take its first lead of the day. First, ITA No. 83 Danilov was bested by No. 88 Nathan Trouve, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6. Then, Klaassen, on court three, saw his 15-match singles win streak snapped, coming down 4-6, 6-1, 3-6.
 
It was on court six that USC sealed the deal, as grad Blake Kasday – who achieved a career-high in singles wins this season – was beat 7-5, 4-6, 3-6.

"To see the support from the tennis fans of the University of San Diego to come out and experience this ... We put on a production, we put on a show, these guys are proud of what they do and everyone I talked to said, 'wow, I can't believe the level of tennis here! It's great!'. And you know, that's what you get with a top-10 team," Keckley said of the record crowds that showed up behind his team. "It was electric, it was exciting, and I hope we can build off that in the years to come."
 
Results
No. 7 San Diego 2, No. 28 Southern California 4
Doubles
1. #11 Stian Klaassen/Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. Bradley, Tristan/Makk, Peter (USC) 7-5
2. Adrien Berrut/Savriyan Danilov (USD) def. Weightman, Oscar/Iakubenko, Volodymyr (USC) 7-5
3. Church, Connor/Trouve, Nathan (USC) def. Blake Kasday/Nikhil Niranjan (USD) 6-4
 
Singles
1. #3 Oliver Tarvet (USD) vs. #16 Makk, Peter (USC) 6-4, 5-7, 1-1, unfinished
2. #88 Trouve, Nathan (USC) def. #83 Savriyan Danilov (USD) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
3. Weightman, Oscar (USC) def. Stian Klaassen (USD) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
4. Neo Niedner (USD) def. Iakubenko, Volodymyr (USC) 6-3, 6-4
5. Lee, Karl (USC) def. Adrien Berrut (USD) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
6. Morazzi, Matteo (USC) def. Blake Kasday (USD) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
 
Match Notes
USC 16-10; National ranking #28
San Diego 25-4; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,2,3,6)