Torero tennis in tournament

Men make NCAA tourney for ninth straight year, women are back for first time since 2012

Anderson Haigler / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

This past Monday afternoon, the University of San Diego men and women’s tennis teams made their way into the Warren Room in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. They piled plates full of food, sat down, and turned their attention to a projector screen in the front of the room. The two Torero tennis teams were there for the same reason: to find out who they would (or would not) play in the NCAA Tournament this upcoming weekend. But judging by their respective demeanors, the two teams weren’t even on the same planet. 

On one side of the room sat the men’s team, who had clinched their ninth straight automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a victory in the West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament Championship days earlier, and their relaxed and laid-back mood reflected the surety of their situation. 

On the other was the women’s team, who enjoyed their best season since 2012 this year, but fell short in the semifinals of their own conference tournament, leaving the fate of their season hanging in the balance of the NCAA selection committee, and an understandable air of tension and anxiety on their side of the room that was reflected in their serious expressions and nervous embraces of each other as they waited to see if their season would continue.

Both reactions were completely understandable, but the two teams were simply in different situations. However, the fact that the two teams were in a position to both qualify for the NCAA Tournament together was itself a testament to the success of USD tennis as a whole. But a suspenseful hour-long selection show stood between the Toreros and celebration.

First up to clarify their postseason plans was the 30th-seeded men’s team, who found out that they will be playing No. 38 seed University of Minnesota in the first round in a match that will take place in Los Angeles, California. The team reacted with perhaps muted excitement, indicative of both the Toreros’ previous experience in the tournament and the lofty goals they have for the road ahead.

“Excitement, just pure joy,” USD men’s tennis head coach Ryan Keckley said of his team’s clinching of an NCAA Tournament appearance.

As successful as San Diego has been thus far this season, their road to the national tournament was not necessarily an easy one. They went 20-4 overall, and 8-1 in the WCC this season, and came into the conference tournament after winning the WCC’s regular season title. They enjoyed a first-round bye as the tournament’s No. 1 seed, and took on Loyola Marymount University in the second round. The Toreros were able to get off to a hot start early on in their matchup with the Lions, with senior Pratt Keerasuntonpong and junior Garrett Kurtz putting the Toreros up early in doubles with a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 position. Shortly after, sophomore David Norfeldt and junior Joel Gamerov secured the doubles point with a 6-4 win at the No. 2 position, moving the score to 1-0 in favor of USD. Sophomore August Holmgren extended the San Diego lead to 2-0 with a dominant win at the No. 2 position, but LMU wasn’t done yet. The Lions battled back to tie the contest at two before redshirt sophomore Nico Borter and junior Gui Osorio took control and earned USD a 4-2 win of the match for the Toreros with two consecutive points at the No. 3 and No. 1 positions, respectively. Keckley described the Toreros’ first match of the WCC tournament.

“We knew the tournament was gonna be tough, all in all,” Keckley said. “We started out with LMU, who’s a very good team, and they had us on the ropes. We talked about toughness nonstop throughout the course of this year, and I felt like we really turned a corner, I felt like it really showed during that match. We were fortunate to get past a good LMU team.”

Up next for USD in the tournament final was No. 6 seed Santa Clara University, who had upset the No. 2 seed Gonzaga University in the other semifinal matchup. The Toreros proved to be much more dominant against the Broncos, defeating them by a score of 4-1 behind doubles wins from Holmgren and Gamerov at the No. 1 position and Osorio and Borter at the No. 2 position. Santa Clara was able to strike first in singles play with a win at the No. 6 position, but they would not score again in the match. WCC Player of the Year Osorio battled for a 7-6 win at the No. 1 position, then Norfeldt clinched the WCC Tournament Championship for USD for the second straight season as he earned a 6-2, 6-4, victory at the No. 5 position that propelled his team to a 4-1 victory and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. After the selection show on Monday, Osorio spoke about his team’s big win.

“The final, we already knew it was gonna be really tough,” Osorio said. “We played (Santa Clara) at home earlier in the year and it was a straightforward match, but they always bring the energy, they fight hard. We were expecting it to be a hard match.”

The Toreros’ victory is the latest accolade in an extensive and lengthy tradition of success in the USD men’s tennis program that is among the most accomplished in all of USD Athletics. Their regular-season WCC title earlier this month was their second straight, and their fifth in the last six years, their WCC Tournament Championship was their sixth straight, and the NCAA Tournament berth they earned with the WCC Tournament Championship will mark their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Keckley, who won WCC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season this year, weighed in on what his team’s consistent success has meant to him.

“To set the tone and the standard as an NCAA bid means everything,” Keckley said. “That’s what we work for. Everyone’s trying to get to this tournament, and let me tell you, it is really challenging, it is really tough to get here. I think less than 14 percent of the Division I schools are invited to this tournament, and to do it nine years in a row is a testament to this university, a testament to the tradition and the history of the program.”

As sweet as San Diego’s most recent victory may be, they will have to quickly turn their focus to an opponent that is relatively unknown to them in the Gophers. Minutes after the selection show concluded, Keckley offered his assessment of USD’s upcoming opponent.

“We know they’re a very well-coached team,” Keckley said. “I know they are a threat in the Big 10 every single year, and they’re always very good at doubles.”

One aspect of the matchup that may swing the Toreros’ way is the fact that Minnesota plays their home games indoors as opposed to USD’s outdoor home venue, as well as the outdoor venue in Los Angeles where the tournament match will be played.

“We look forward to getting them outside,” Keckley said.

Though both Keckley and Osorio said they were confident in their team’s ability to make a deep run into the tournament that could rival their performance of last season that saw them reach the tournament’s second round, they both stressed that their focus remains the match ahead of them.

“I think we’ll focus on one match at a time,” Keckley said with a chuckle.

Once the men’s bracket was set, all eyes turned to the women’s side of things. But without a guaranteed spot in the tournament like the men, tensions drew higher for the lady Toreros with each spot on the bracket that filled without their name being called.

“We were all very, very nervous,” USD women’s tennis head coach Sherri Stephens said. “We had a pretty strong feeling we were gonna get in, but you don’t know it until you see it.”

Stephens and her team’s strong feeling proved to be an accurate one, as the words “San Diego” appeared onscreen late in the selection show in a bracket slot above their opponent: No. 28 seed Louisiana State University. When the Toreros were finally called, the entire room erupted in joyous cheers and celebration that was the culmination of an afternoon of success for both USD tennis programs. San Diego was in the tournament, and would be the bracket’s No. 36 seed in a match that was also in Los Angeles alongside their fellow Toreros on the men’s team. First year Solymar Colling, who won WCC Freshman of the Year honors earlier this week, described her team’s reaction to their suspenseful bid to the tournament. 

“This year everyone was willing to work super hard,” Colling said. “And the fact that we dedicated so much time to working hard and competing in our matches and fighting and wanting to win helped us get in (to the NCAA Tournament).”

USD women’s tennis’ berth to the NCAA Tournament is the latest step forward in a season full of improvement for San Diego. Their 17-4 (8-1 WCC) record and second-place WCC finish this year marks their best season since 2012, which was also the last time they appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Stephens, who also won her fourth career WCC Coach of the Year award alongside her colleague Keckley this season, discussed the improvement she has seen from the Toreros this year.

“(The improvement) means everything,” Stephens said. “We had been struggling for a couple of years. A lot of it had to do with injuries and different things that had happened to us, but from the very beginning when these girls came in in September, they said, ‘We’re doing this.’”

Stephens mentioned that the Toreros may have inadvertently exceeded their own goal they set in the beginning of the year by qualifying for the tournament.

“Actually, our goal was to win conference, so we didn’t even talk about making it into  NCAA’s. And then things just started rolling our way, they worked really really hard and we started winning and winning and winning. All of a sudden it was like ‘Oh my God, we can make NCAA’s.’ And here we are.”

Like the men’s team, the lady Toreros will have little time to prepare for their first-round matchup against the Tigers. Despite the quick turnaround, Stephens stated that her team will be well-prepared for the match.

“We know nothing (about LSU), we are about ready to go do our work,” Stephens said immediately after her team’s postseason berth was announced. “We know a lot of coaches and a lot of places, so we’ll be able to get a good scouting report on them.”

When it was all said and done, Monday afternoon marked a momentous occasion for USD tennis as a whole, both the men and women’s programs. With the men’s team continuing their tradition of dominance and the women’s team taking a significant and impressive step forward, fans of Torero tennis have a lot to look forward to in the next week as the two teams make their way through the tournament.

At press time, dates and times of both team’s matches in the first round of the NCAA Tournament have yet to be announced, but will be made available on USDToreros.com as soon as they are announced, along with information on how to watch and follow the matches through live statistics. 

Both matches will likely be streamed online, either through the USD or NCAA websites.