LA JOLLA, Calif. - Ending a grueling week-long period against four highly-ranked opponents, the No. 28 UC San Diego men's tennis team held its own against No. 2 West Florida, which thinly defeated the Tritons, 5-4, on Tuesday at Northview Tennis Courts.

Junior Max Jiganti and sophomore Kona Luu prevented the Argonauts from sweeping doubles play when they defeated Tony Rajaobelina and Domenico Sano, 9-8 (7-5), in No. 2 doubles.

The Argonauts then added victories in No. 2 and No. 3 singles, putting them just one match away from the all-important fifth win.

However, the Tritons persevered and answered UWF with a pair of three-set thrillers in singles play. Senior Camill Salomon fought hard to win the first set of his No. 1 singles match against Kevin Ducros, 7-5. Ducros then won the second set, 6-1, to set the stage for the third set. In the closing set, Salomon beat Ducros, 6-1, to win the match.

Luu also won his match in No. 4 singles but in come-from-behind fashion. The Irvine native was dealt a difficult 7-5 defeat from Elio Latela in the first set, but Luu rebounded in the second set to even the match with a 7-5 triumph of his own. At the end of the third frame, Luu won the match with a score of 6-4.

Unfortunately, the Tritons' comeback was cut short in No. 5 singles when Felipe Frattini defeated sophomore Teddy Truong in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

In spite of their defeat, redshirt freshman Horea Porutiu earned a victory for UCSD in No. 6 singles against Sano, who defeated Porutiu in the opening set, 6-2. Porutiu later evened then won the match with scores of 6-3 and 10-7 in the second and third sets, respectively.

The Argonauts, who rise to 10-1 overall, will play at Shorter (5-4) on Saturday in a match scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST.

#2 West Florida 5, #28 UC San Diego 4
Mar 12, 2013 at La Jolla, CA (Northview Tennis Courts)

Singles
1. Camill Salomon (UCSD) def. Kevin Ducros (UWF) 7-5, 1-6, 6-1
2. Bruno Savi (UWF) def. Max Jiganti (UCSD) 6-2, 6-0
3. Guilherme Canineo (UWF) def. Ganesh Alagappan (UCSD) 7-5, 6-0
4. Kona Luu (UCSD) def. Elio Latela (UWF) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
5. Felipe Frattini (UWF) def. Teddy Truong (UCSD) 6-2, 6-4
6. Horea Porutiu (UCSD) def. Domenico Sano (UWF) 2-6, 6-3, 10-7

Doubles
1. Kevin Ducros/Bruno Savi (UWF) def. Justin Anderson/Camill Salomon (UCSD) 9-7
2. Max Jiganti/Kona Luu (UCSD) def. Tony Rajaobelina/Domenico Sano (UWF) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Felipe Frattini/Elio Latela (UWF) def. Rajeev Herekar/Teddy Truong (UCSD) 9-7

West Florida 10-1; National ranking #2; Regional ranking #1
UC San Diego 7-7; National ranking #28; Regional ranking #5
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)

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