FAIRFIELD, Calif. — LMU men's tennis team defeated Portland 4-3 Thursday at Green Valley Country Club in WCC Tournament play, improving to 17-4 on the season and advancing to face San Diego on Friday morning. 

 

Portland claimed the doubles point after splitting the three courts. Tristan Messerli and Max Wuelfing gave LMU an early lead at No. 2, beating Tom Garcia and Eli Noel 6-3, but Stefan Skobelevand Tannor Binder leveled things at No. 3, 6-2 over Cyrus Ahmad and Darius Tamaddon. Nikola Keremedchiev and Cade Fernando then clinched the point for Portland at No. 1, edging Cesar Cruz and Emil Kindhult 7-6 (7-2). 

 

LMU answered quickly in singles. Cruz set the tone first at No. 2, dismissing Fernando 6-1, 6-1, and Wuelfing followed with an equally commanding 6-2, 6-2 win over Keremedchiev at No. 1 to put the Lions up 2-1. 

 

Portland responded at No. 4, where Skobelev rallied past Kuba Hrynkiewicz 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to pull even at 2-2. 

 

Messerli, whose start was delayed by a court issue at No. 6, came in with a bang once play began, quickly dispatching Gian Manhas 6-4, 6-1 to push LMU back ahead 3-2. 

 

That lead evaporated at No. 3, where Kindhult fell in a marathon to Garcia. Kindhult took the opening set 6-4 before Garcia forced a tiebreak in the second, claiming it 7-1 to level the match. Kindhult battled through four straight deuce points in the third but could not convert, eventually falling 7-5 to knot the dual at 3-3. 

 

With everything on the line, Ahmad delivered the clincher at No. 5. After winning the opening set 7-6 (7-2) in a tiebreak, he dropped the second 4-6 to Tannor Binder, setting up a winner-take-all third. Ahmad finished strong, closing it out 6-3 to seal LMU's 4-3 victory and send the Lions into a celebration. 

 

LMU will face the Toreros at 9:00 a.m. (PT) Friday morning with the winner heading to the championship match on Saturday.