Men's Tennis 2/22/2015 12:00:00 AM

Gauchos Lose 5-2 Road Decision at USF

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Gauchos' road struggles continued Saturday afternoon after a 5-2 loss to USF (3-3) at the Cal Club in San Francisco. UCSB (3-5) started the match strong with a dominating performance in the doubles competition and first set wins at four of the six singles courts but the Dons battled back to win all but one of those matches and handed UCSB their fifth road loss of the season.

The Gauchos began the day by clinching the doubles point with wins at courts 2 and 3. Junior Nathan Eshmade and sophomore Erik Johnsson were first off the court after posting a 6-3 victory against Valverde/Takemoto at the No. 2 court. Sophomore Morgan Mays and junior Andrew Riminton followed up with a close 7-6(4) to put the Gauchos in the lead.

Seniors Tobias Galskov and Ziad Sultan, who made his 2015 dual match debut, were locked in a tiebreaker with USF's nationally-ranked duo, #31 Saraiva/Skajaa, at the No. 1 court before play was halted.

With a 1-0 lead in hand, the Gauchos kept the momentum rolling with first set victories at the No. 2, 3, 4, and 6 courts. However, the Dons came back to force third sets in each of the matches and eventually win all but the match at court 6, where Andrew Riminton defeated Johan Samuelsson 6-0, 6-7(6), 6-1.

At the No. 3 position, freshman Cody Rakela was downed by James Tallman 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 to tie the match at 1-1. The Dons' lead swelled to 3-1 after Morgan Mays fell Bernardo Saraiva 7-5, 6-4 and Teague Hamilton lost in three to Vasco Valverde 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 at the No. 1 and No. 5 courts, respectively.

USF clinched the victory after Thomas Takemoto defeated Nathan Eshmade 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Play continued at the No. 2 court, where senior Tobias Galskov fell to fellow Dane, Nils Skajaa at the No. 2 court, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

UCSB will continue their road trip tomorrow when they face off against No. 14 California at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley. Action is set to begin at 1:30 pm.

USF 5, UCSB 2
February 21, 2015
Cal Club (San Francisco, Calif.)

Doubles

1. #31 Saraiva/Skajaa (USF) vs. Galskov/Sultan (UCSB) 6-6 (4-3) DNF
2. Eshmade/Johnsson (UCSB) def. Valverde/Takemoto (USF) 6-3
3. Mays/Riminton (UCSB) def. Brockstedt/Lee (USF) 7-6 (4)

Singles

1. Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Morgan Mays (UCSB) 7-5, 6-4
2. Nils Skajaa (USF) def. Tobias Galskov (UCSB) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. James Tallman (USF) def. Cody Rakela (UCSB) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
4. Thomas Takemoto (USF) def. Nathan Eshmade (UCSB) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Vasco Valverde (USF) def. Teague Hamilton (UCSB) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
6. Andrew Riminton (UCSB) def. Johan Samuelsson (USF) 6-0, 6-7 (6), 6-1