SAN DIEGO, Calif. — In another three-hour marathon between the West Coast Conference's most spirited rivals, the No. 25 Pepperdine men's tennis team fell 4-2 to the No. 7 San Diego Toreros in the WCC Championships on Saturday night. 

After a lengthy rain delay pushed the match back three hours, the Waves (16-10, 5-2) looked sharp by taking the doubles point from the Toreros (24-3, 7-0 WCC). Although the score remained 1-0 in favor of Pepperdine for nearly two hours, San Diego responded by winning two straight-set matches and pushing a match to a third set to go up 3-1. In the waning moments of the match, Lasse Poertner made the score 3-2 with a three-set win over Adrien Berrut, yet San Diego's Neo Niedner clinched the match minutes later.

Squaring off in the WCC title match for the fourth consecutive year, the conference rivals played another close doubles point that set the tone for the next 90 minutes.

Redeeming themselves from their loss in the regular-season match between the two rivals, Pepperdine's all-freshman duo of Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric came through with a big 6-2 win at the third position. The Waves broke the Toreros at deuce for a 3-1 lead, then consolidated the break with relative ease. Although USD's Blake Kasday and Nikhil Niranjan held serve at deuce in the sixth game, the Waves returned the favor in USD's next service game by breaking them for their 6-2 win.

One court over, Pepperdine's veteran team of Linus Carlsson Halldin and Maxi Homberg also took an early double-break lead and didn't look back. The Waves broke the Toreros in the third game, then weathered a furious USD comeback that saw Savriyan Danilov and Adrien Berrut break the Waves in the eighth game to put the match back on serve.

However, Pepperdine broke San Diego in the ninth game, sending Carlsson Halldin back to serve for the match. Strong serving from Carlsson Halldin put the Waves up 40-0 before USD rallied back to force a deciding point. On match point, Carlsson Halldin found his serve once again, and the senior captain capped off the 6-4 win with an ace.

For the next 90 minutes, Pepperdine clung to the 1-0 lead. San Diego made a push in singles play by winning four first sets, making the Waves' lead less of a certainty as the match dragged into the night.

Two-and-a-half hours into the match, the Toreros broke through. It started with Danilov saving two match points to push his match on court two to a third set, then Berrut won a second-set tiebreaker to make his match with Poertner go the distance. San Diego got on the board with a straight-set win on court three, then went up 2-1 with another victory on court one as the Waves tried to rally.

To their credit, the Pepperdine freshmen battled. Despite losing his first set, David Fix traded breaks with Blake Kasday in a rollercoaster of a second set before reaching a tiebreak. With Pepperdine trailing 2-1 and needing Fix to hold on, Fix answered the call by saving two match points in an epic second-set tiebreak before winning 7-6 (10) to keep Pepperdine's comeback hopes alive. One court over, Poertner bounced back from his second-set tiebreak loss and took a double-break lead in the third set, while Pisaric pushed his match against Niedner to a third set.

USD finally flipped the script on the match with Danilov's come-from-behind, three-set win on court two to make the score 3-1. Poertner took care of business by serving out his 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-1 win over Berrut, but that was Pepperdine's last gasp. Niedner wound up clinching the match with a three-set win on court five.  

All told, Danilov and Berrut saved four match points for the Toreros to keep the team in the fight. San Diego has won back-to-back matches against Pepperdine in the conference tournament final, all while dropping the doubles point both times.

Pepperdine will find out its postseason fate during Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which airs on ncaa.com at 2:30 p.m. PT. 

RESULTS

Singles

1. #3 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. #23 Edward Winter (PEPP) 6-4, 6-4
2. #78 Savriyan Danilov (USD) def. #87 Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 4-6, 7-5, 6-0
3. Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-3, 6-4
4. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Adrien Berrut (USD) 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1
5. Neo Niedner (USD) def. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
6. Blake Kasday (USD) vs. David Fix (PEPP) 6-4, 6-7 (10), 0-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 3,1,2,4,5*
 

Doubles
1. #5 Stian Klaassen/Oliver Tarvet (USD) vs. #64 Edward Winter/Hugh Winter (PEPP) 4-4, unfinished
2. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Savriyan Danilov/Adrien Berrut (USD) 6-4
3. Aleksa Pisaric/Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Nikhil Niranjan/Blake Kasday (USD) 6-2

Order of finish: 3,2*