LOS ANGELES - Playing tougher competition in their fourth day at the 56th Annual SoCal Intercollegiate Championships, three members of the UC San Diego men's tennis team faced off in semifinal matches and recorded respectable performances on Saturday to conclude the fall portion of their schedule.

Horea Porutiu reached the Qualifying Back Draw Final after his opponent, Micah Groom of Concordia, was a no-show at the semifinal match.

Porutiu faced Travis Fillmore of BYU in the final and lost the first set by a score of 6-4. However, Porutiu responded in the second set with a 6-3 win to force the match into a tiebreaking third set. Although he resisted to fall easily, Porutiu suffered a 10-7 defeat in the exhaustive match's deciding set.

Guy Giubilato and Camill Salomon each competed in their respective semifinal matches in the Main Draw Back Draw event of Collegiate Singles. Giubilato won the first set of his contest against UC Santa Barbara's Ziad Sultan, 6-3, but fell in the second set, 6-2, before losing the match on a 10-1 defeat in the third frame.

Salomon also departed the Main Draw Back Draw after falling 6-3, in straight sets, to Jochem Hoefnagels of Azusa Pacific.

The Tritons will have to wait until 2013 to return to the hard surface when they travel to San Diego State for an exhibition match on Friday, Jan. 18 which will begin at 2 p.m.

Collegiate Singles - Main Draw Back Draw - Semifinals
Ziad Sultan (UC Santa Barbara) def. Guy Giubilato (UCSD) 3-6, 6-2, 10-1
Jochem Hoefnagels (Azusa Pacific) def. Camill Salomon (UCSD) 6-3, 6-3 

Collegiate Singles - Qualifying Back Draw - Semifinals
Horea Porutiu (UCSD) def. Micah Groom (Concordia) def (ns)

Collegiate Singles - Qualifying Back Draw - Finals
Travis Fillmore (BYU) def. Horea Porutiu 6-4, 3-6, 10-7

-- UCSDtritons.com --