Toreros come up short against Bears

USD women’s tennis loses four-game winning streak to no. 17 Cal

Maria Watters / Asst. Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego’s women’s tennis team attempted to continue their four-game winning streak against 17th-ranked Cal Berkeley at home on Sunday. 

The Toreros got off to a slow start against the Bears after losing two of the three doubles matches and relinquishing the first overall point. Down 0-1, USD would have to swing the momentum back in their favor during the singles matches in order to stand a chance at securing the victory. But the Toreros would be unable to overcome the one-point deficit early on as they quickly conceded the first two singles matches, putting Cal up 3-0. USD saw a glimmer of hope when they captured their first point on court four. However, with only one point away from victory, the Bears were able to silence the Toreros soon after by clinching the win on court four. Ultimately, USD came up just short, losing 3-4.  

USD was set to kick off play in the West Coast Conference on Saturday against Gonzaga. However, due to COVID-19 regulations, the match was postponed. That meant the only opponent facing the Toreros would be the 8-2 Bears. Cal was the second team ranked in the top 20 USD had faced thus far, with the first being 3rd-ranked UCLA, who swept both the Toreros and the Bears earlier in the season. 

Most notably, however, is the fact that the Toreros entered Sunday’s contest with a four-game winning streak, all of which were monumental 7-0 sweeps. 

“Coming into this match with a four-match win streak, I think, helped us a lot with our overall confidence and energy as a team,” redshirt sophomore Solymar Colling said. “We know how good we are and how close we are to beating top ranked schools.” 

The contest began with three doubles matches for the first overall point. USD’s Colling and redshirt first year Elizabeth Goldsmith took on the 40th-ranked doubles partners, sophomores Haley Giavara and Valentina Ivanov on court one. Below them, redshirt senior Kati Kukaras and sophomore Victoria Kalaitzis faced Cal’s senior Anna Bright and first year Hannah Viller Moeller. Rounding off the doubles matches on court three were USD’s first years Jordyn McBride and Abigail Desiatnikov against Cal’s senior Julia Rosenqvist and first year Jada Bui. 

Court three was the first to finish when Rosenqvist and Bui defeated McBride and Desiatnikov 6-2. The Bears needed to win on one more court in order to secure the doubles point. They would do just that when Kukaras and Kalaitzis lost to Moeller and Bright 6-3. Despite Cal capturing the first overall point, the remaining doubles match on court one continued. Colling and Goldsmith would emerge victorious over Giavara and Ivanov, winning 6-4. Having won two of the three doubles matches, the Bears had clinched the first overall point, putting them up 1-0 heading into the round of singles. 

After her team lost the doubles point, Colling knew that, while it would be a difficult task to overcome the deficit, she and her teammates had what it took to pull it off.

“Going into singles after losing the doubles point made me more motivated to try and win my singles match,” Colling said. “As a team, it’s always tough to start with the momentum shifted towards the other team, but I knew that everyone was capable of winning their singles matches with how much depth our team has.”

The Toreros would need to win four of the six singles matches in order to defeat the Bears. However, Cal put forth a daunting lineup with three nationally ranked players. 

61st-ranked Colling would have the difficult task of taking on 18th-ranked Giavara on court one. Below her, 124th-ranked Goldsmith took on 43rd-ranked Rosenqvist on court two, and McBride faced 26th-ranked Ivanov on court three. The second half of the singles lineup started with USD’s Kalaitzis versus Bui on court four, Desiatnikov against Moeller on court five, and Kukaras versus Bright on court six. 

Cal drew first blood on court four when Bui defeated Kalaitzis in decisive fashion — 6-1, 6-0. But USD was quick to respond with a quick victory on court five when Desiatnikov beat Moeller 6-2, 6-2. The Bears still had a one-point lead over the Toreros with the overall score at 2-1. 

But the Bears inched one step closer to victory when Bright secured a crucial victory over Kukaras on court six. Up 3-1, Cal only needed to win on one more court to clinch the win over USD, and with Colling and Goldsmith entering their third sets, it was up to McBride to hold off the Bears. But after losing the first set 6-4, she simply could not deny Ivanov the win. The 6-4, 6-3 victory on court three clinched the overall win for Cal at 4-1. 

While USD had lost the team matchup, the remaining matches on court one and two continued. Colling had lost the first set 4-6, but came back to dominate the second, winning 6-2. Ultimately, Colling was able to overcome the power of Giavara and emerged victorious after winning the third set 6-4. 

Goldsmith had won her first set against Rosenqvist 6-3, and narrowly lost the second 5-7. Because their second set ended after Cal clinched the victory, the contest would be decided by a 10-point tiebreaker. After several highly competitive rallies, Goldsmith came out on top over Rosenqvist, winning the tie breaker 10-6.

At the end of the day, the Bears narrowly defeated the Toreros, 4-3. 

Despite a tough loss, assistant coach Nadia Abdala had a positive outlook on the contest and where her team would go from here. 

“I thought we played and competed well,” Abdala said. “(I’m) glad for Soly (Colling) and Elizabeth (Goldsmith) that got a ranked win in singles and doubles … This match shows how good we are and we just need to get back to work and keep getting better.”

The USD women’s tennis team has some time to do just that as they have a full week to practice before facing their next opponent, the Oregon Ducks. But after their promising performance against a top ranked team, the Toreros are confident they have the ability to compete against anyone who crosses their path.

The Toreros take on Oregon at home on Sunday, March 21.