SPOKANE, Wash. – No. 13 San Diego men's tennis rolled to a dominant 4-0 victory at Gonzaga on Sunday, sweeping the doubles point and claiming three decisive singles victories to close out the Bulldogs on the road Sunday.
USD has won six straight, moving to 14-4 on the season with a perfect road weekend to start conference play in the Pacific Northwest with a pair of 4-0 sweeps.
The Toreros controlled Sunday's match from the opening exchange, winning the highly contested doubles point on courts one and three while court two was left unfinished. Sophomore Adrien Berrut and redshirt junior Lambert Ruland – ranked 27th nationally together – led the way at No. 1 doubles, defeating Giovanni Branchetti and Jay Fairclough, 6-4. The duo of sophomore Manvydas Balciunas and freshman Timo Barthes added the clinching win on court three, dispatching Diego Herrera and Gus Krauel, 7-5 in Barthes' first completed collegiate match.
A scorching hot Oliver Tarvet was the first to strike in singles play, racing through his No. 1 singles match against Oscar Rashed 6-1, 6-3, his seventh straight win, to give San Diego an early singles lead. Balciunas followed with a tidy straight-set win at No. 2 over Fairclough, 6-4, 6-3, his seventh straight win too, before freshman Luc Wieland – also off to a perfect start to his collegiate singles career – clinched the dual with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Herrera at No. 6.
The remaining three singles matches on courts 3, 4 and 5 were left unfinished with the outcome decided.
Up Next
The Toreros come back to America's Finest City for their first West Coast Conference home matches of the season, taking on Saint Mary's on Thursday, April 2 at 10 a.m. and Pacific on Saturday, April 4 at noon for senior day at Hogan Tennis Center.
Results
#13 San Diego 4, Gonzaga 0
Doubles
- Adrien Berrut/Lambert Ruland (USD) def. Giovanni Branchetti/Jay Fairclough (GON) 6-4
- Luc Wieland/Oliver Tarvet (USD) vs. Oscar Rashed/Nicholas Reeves (GON) 5-6, unfinished
- Manvydas Balciunas/Timo Barthes (USD) def. Diego Herrera/Gus Krauel (GON) 7-5
Singles
- Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. Oscar Rashed (GON) 6-1, 6-3
- Manvydas Balciunas (USD) def. Jay Fairclough (GON) 6-4, 6-3
- Lambert Ruland (USD) vs. Giovanni Branchetti (GON) 7-6 (11-9), 0-4 unfinished
- Adrien Berrut (USD) vs. Nicholas Reeves (GON) 6-7 (10-12), 5-3
- Neo Niedner (USD) vs. Tom Dunlop (GON) 1-6, 6-3, 0-1 unfinished
- Luc Wieland (USD) def. Diego Herrera (GON) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish – Doubles: 1, 3; Singles: 1, 2, 6
