Steffen Deetjen
Staff Writer

This past Friday, the USF Dons mens tennis team took on Cal Berkeley at the San Francisco Tennis Club and had a tough match against them. Although the Dons dominated in their double matches they struggled in the singles which was. 

In the doubles matches the USF team of senior Bernardo Saraiva and junior Nils Skajaa took control in their match against opponents Gregory Bayane and Chase Melion and finished strong with a score of 6-3. The other doubles team, pairing sophomore Thomas Takemoto and junior Vasco Valverde, also had a sensational match in which they defeated Billy Griffith and JT Nishimura by a score of 7-5.  The Dons made team history with these wins as it was their first time with a win against Cal in doubles points.

Despite the excellence in their doubles play, the Dons were not able to follow through with the win in their singles play. Cal Berkeley was able to defeat the Dons by picking up four singles matches. Nils Skajaa played a match against Billy Griffith and was defeated with the final set scores of 6-4, 6-0. Up next was Thomas Takemoto playing against JT Nishimura, which ended up in a loss with a final score of 6-2, 6-2. Third to play a singles match was Vasco Valverde playing against Gregory Bayane, which was finalized with a losing score of 6-4, 6-4. Lastly, Christian Brockstedt played his singles match against Mads Engsted and finished with a losing score of 6-3, 6-4.

The next match for the Dons will be against New Mexico on Feb. 14 in San Luis Obispo.

Photo Credit: Courtesy OF Dons Athletics