Men’s tennis finishes season with win over rivals SDSU

Toreros, short-staffed because of injuries, overcome early deficit to beat Aztecs

Maria Watters / Asst. Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego’s men’s tennis team competed in their final match of the season at home on Saturday, May 1 against their cross-town rival, the San Diego State University Aztecs.

Already down 0-1 due to a lack of eligible players, the Toreros entered the match trailing behind the Aztecs. With only five players, USD had to forfeit the third doubles court, requiring them to win the remaining two matches in order to clinch the doubles point and level the team score. Though the Toreros dominated their opponents on court two with a 6-2 victory, it was the Aztecs that secured the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court one. USD entered the round of singles matches with a 0-2 deficit. The Toreros proceeded to dominate the rest of the competition, winning the first set on every court. Ultimately, USD emerged victorious after four straight-set victories, concluding their season with a 4-2 victory over SDSU.

The 2021 season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster for the USD men’s tennis team. The six-time defending West Coast Conference champions have been crippled by injuries. The Toreros suffered an early loss when redshirt senior Gui Osorio was forced to sit out the season due to leg and back injuries. Once competition began, their numbers continued to dwindle as players got injured and one left the program. Just a week before facing the Aztecs, USD was forced to take on WCC opponent Loyola Marymount with only four players. 

The personnel issues appeared to have a drastic effect on the reigning WCC champs as they were caught in a four-game losing streak in March. But the Toreros refused to let the circumstances of their season affect their fighting spirit and desire to uphold their powerhouse reputation.

“We had some tough luck with injuries, but we found a way,” redshirt senior Nico Borter said. “We had to come together as a team in order to achieve our goal of beating State.”

The deck was stacked against the Toreros entering Saturday’s contest. Since the Toreros had no choice but to forfeit the sixth singles match, they were behind 0-1 in the team score before they had even played a single point. On top of that, having also forfeited the third doubles match, they would have to win both remaining doubles matches in order to clinch the doubles point, while the Aztecs would only need one win to claim it. 

With a formidable hill to climb and the additional pressure of wanting to end their season on a high note, the Toreros took the court against the Aztecs in what was essentially a sudden death contest. 

The second doubles court was the first to finish. USD’s redshirt first year Marvin Schaber and redshirt junior David Norfeldt defeated SDSU’s senior Ignacio Martinez and first year Judson Blair 6-2. 

The Toreros were less successful on court one, where redshirt senior Nico Borter and redshirt junior August Holmgren were locked in a highly competitive back and forth battle with first year Johannes Seeman and senior Ignacio Martinez. Ultimately, Seeman’s powerful serve proved too much for the pair of Toreros to handle as the Aztecs clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory. 

USD had it all to do if they were to emerge from the season’s last contest victorious. 

“We lost the doubles point and we were down 0-2, but I think we all had a genuine belief that we could win the game,” redshirt senior Garrett Kurtz said. “Especially because it’s San Diego State and we don’t want to lose to the Aztecs.”

Trailing 0-2, the Toreros would need to win at least four singles matches to claim the win. However, because they only had five players, USD had little room for error as more than one loss would seal their defeat. 

On court one, 77th-ranked Holmgren was set to face off against Seeman, but unlike in doubles, this contest would be between just the two of them. Having tasted the speed of Seeman’s serve before, Holmgren was able to neutralize his opponent’s strengths and ultimately walked away with an impressive straight-set win 6-2, 6-1. 

Having cut the Aztecs’ lead in half with Holmgren’s victory on court one, the Toreros were quickly gaining ground. And they didn’t trail behind on the team score for much longer as Norfeldt was making quick work of Martinez on court three. Ultimately, Norfeldt would leave with the win, defeating Martinez 6-1, 6-2, leveling the overall score 2-2. 

After winning the first set on all five courts, the Toreros never took their feet off the gas. 

“When we were playing, we heard throughout the match that we had won the first five sets in singles and I think that was just a really positive motivating factor for us,” Kurtz said. 

On court four, Kurtz faced off against SDSU’s graduate student Rafael Gonzalez in his last match at USD. Despite sustaining an ankle injury in the match against LMU, Kurtz battled his way to a 6-2, 6-2 victory, putting his team ahead 3-2. 

The Toreros secured the win on court five as Schaber put away first year Roni Rikkonen in straight sets. 

Though he was unable to finish his match, Borter was looking to be on his way to a victory over Castro in his last match as a Torero on court two. Having won the first set 6-3, the senior was leading in the second 5-3 with three match points. 

At the end of the day, USD capped off their season by battling their way back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat their San Diego rival SDSU with only five players. On top of that, the Toreros said goodbye to two seniors, Kurtz and Borter, whose efforts helped lead USD to multiple WCC championships. 

“I was extremely proud of how they competed against their cross town rival San Diego State,” Head Coach Ryan Keckley said. “This match meant a lot to these boys and our alumni base, so to walk away with a win is a memorable finish for Nico (Borter) and Gary (Kurtz) on senior day.”

Their season concluded, the Toreros head into the offseason and begin preparing for competition to start again next year. The new season will bring in new faces and USD tennis veterans alike with the goal of returning the program to its championship-winning status.