SAN DIEGO – Fronted by dominant doubles play and two ranked wins on the top two courts, 18^th-ranked San Diego men's tennis coasted past No. 28 Columbia for a 6-1 victory Saturday.
 
The Toreros' fourth straight win, all over ranked opponents, came with little bend back, the Lions' lone point on the day coming on an injury retirement.

"It's a really exciting win for the program," said USD Head Coach Ryan Keckley. "We knew today was going to be a war."
 
The Toreros started the relentless effort in doubles and didn't hold back from there on out. First, on court three, the Dutch tandem of Manvydas Balciunas and Stian Klaassen taking a commanding 6-1 victory.
 
The duo of Oliver Tarvet and Vincent Marysko weren't far behind, claiming a 6-2 win on court two to clinch the doubles point in favor of USD, while the ranked battle on court one went unfinished at 5-4 in favor of the Toreros.
 
Tarvet took the momentum with him to singles, with a full crowd at Hogan Tennis Center behind him, facing back-to-back defending NCAA Singles National Champion Michael Zheng. USD's senior All-American did not falter, however, cruising on main court to a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
 
It was Tarvet's second straight win over Zheng at the collegiate level, also topping him in three sets on the same court last season. It is also Zheng's first straight-set loss in exactly a year and the least games he's won in a match since March 30, 2024.

"Hats off to Ollie Tarvet for an extraordinary win against ATP-ranked No. 145 Michael Zheng," Keckley said. "He has really started to play some of his best tennis to date."
 
The Brit wasn't the only Torero to collect a ranked win, as next door on court two, first year Balciunas collected his fifth straight singles win, second over a ranked opponent in his career, topping ITA No. 31 Nicolas Kotzen 6-4, 6-4 to extend USD's lead to 3-0.

"Huge performance by Manvydas as well," Keckley said. "He showed some grit today which is exactly what we needed in order to secure the win.

"Columbia has consistenly set the bar for competitiveness and resilience. When things looked good up 3-0 2.5 hours into the match, Columbia made a push, which is what we expected. We have had trouble closing out matches this year and we knew this match would be a challenge doing just that."
 
It would take three sets for the Toreros to find their fourth and clinching point in senior Neo Niedner at No. 5 singles. The German rebounded from a dropped 3-6 first set to win the next two, 7-5, 6-2, to mark victory for San Diego.
 
With the match outcome decided, Keckley withdrew redshirt-junior Lambert Ruland from his match on court four, giving the Lions their first and only point of the day via retirement.
 
The remaining two matches would play out, in favor of the Toreros. First, Klaassen's match on court three went to a tiebreak in the third set, in which he prevailed 7-3 for USD's fifth point of the day.
 
Finally, on court six, freshman Luc Wieland won his second straight match in his collegiate singles debut week with a third set 10-point super tiebreak. Wieland claimed the first set 6-3, dropped the second narrowly 5-7, then claimed a 10-3 tiebreak to settle Saturday's final score at 6-1.
 
Up Next
The Toreros (12-4) set off for the Pacific Northwest for a pair of road matches to kick off conference play, at Portland on Friday, March 27 and at Gonzaga on Sunday, March 29.

"We look forward to starting up WCC play next week," said Keckley. 
 
Results
#18 USD 6, #28 Columbia 1
Doubles
1. #27 Adrien Berrut/Lambert Ruland (USD) vs. #54 Andrew Ena/Nicolas Kotzen (COL) 5-4, unfinished
2. Oliver Tarvet/Vincent Marysko (USD) def. Michael Zheng/Sachin Palta (COL) 6-2
3. Stian Klaassen/Manvydas Balciunas (USD) def. Abhishek Thorat/Thana. Boosarawongse (COL) 6-1
 
Singles
1. #46 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. #8 Michael Zheng (COL) 6-2, 6-3
2. Manvydas Balciunas (USD) def. #31 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) 6-4, 6-4
3. #117 Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Thana. Boosarawongse (COL) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3)
4. #64 Sachin Palta (COL) def. Lambert Ruland (USD) 6-7 (0-7), 6-2, 3-2, retired
5. Neo Niedner (USD) def. Abhishek Thorat (COL) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
6. Luc Wieland (USD) def. Aditya Govila (COL) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-3)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,2,5,4,3,6)