Toreros cruise to win over Waves

USD earns a decisive 4-0 conference victory against Pepperdine University 

Anderson Haigler | Sports Editor | The USD Vista

Each season, the University of San Diego men’s tennis team looks forward to playing Pepperdine University. With both the USD and Pepperdine programs being perennial contenders in the West Coast Conference (WCC), a healthy rivalry has developed between the two schools. Last Thursday, the Toreros took on the Waves in a matchup that had more implications for the Toreros than a simple rivalry between two teams,.

Heading into their matchup against Pepperdine, USD was sitting in second place in the WCC with a 5-1 (12-7 overall) conference record. With Loyola Marymount University looming ahead of them both in the schedule and in the standings, USD needed a win against the Waves to keep alive their hopes of leapfrogging the Lions in the standings. 

On a sunny afternoon at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center at USD, the Toreros cruised to a 4-0 victory against the Waves in their second-to-last home competition of the 2018 season. 

USD’s number one doubles team, composed of first-year August Holmgren and sophomore Joel Gamerov, came into the match ranked no. 73 in the country as a pair. Their performance did not disappoint. The pair defeated Pepperdine’s  Lautaro Pane and Dane Esses with relative ease, prevailing by a final score of 6-3 as they gave USD an early lead. Holmgren spoke about his performance in the doubles match.

“I honestly felt a little tired coming into the match,” Holmgren said. “But I tried to force the energy, so I kind of faked my way into the zone. It always helps to get that doubles point. It creates a lot of good momentum from the get-go, so that was nice. It’s really fun to get to play with Joel. I kinda just stay at the baseline and smack forehands, and then he can just do whatever he wants at the net, so it’s a really good setup for our matchup with me and him working together.”

USD men’s tennis head coach Ryan Keckley said he liked Holmgren and Gamerov’s performance in their doubles match.

“We’ve talked a lot about bringing forth the energy early on,” Keckley said. “And just having a presence, especially in the doubles point,” Keckley said. “You can knock some teams off-balance, just with that mentality, and I thought they did a great job of that. We talked a lot about just when an opponent’s down making sure you step on them and not let them back up for air. I think August and Joel have had a great season.”

In what has been a productive rookie campaign for Holmgren, Keckley stated that he has been impressed with Holmgren’s efforts as a whole this season.

“You know, August came in and he was a very green doubles player,” Keckley said. “And this is a guy who works incredibly hard in all aspects of his game — mentally, physically, emotionally. And you’re seeing a direct result of a kid who just works himself to death.”

In the Toreros’ other doubles match, Nico Borter and Pratt Keerasuntonpong also got things done, winning a 6-1 decision at the number two spot.

USD enjoyed success in their singles points as well. Joel Gamerov and first-year David Norfelt won their matches in straight sets before redshirt senior Alexandros Araouzos finished things off for the Toreros with a 6-0, 7-6 decision out of the number six spot.

Gamerov stated that his success with Holmgren in the doubles point helped him get off to a better start in his singles point. 

Keckley explained that Araouzos has been an asset to the Toreros.

“Araouzos was at the six spot today, and he’s been moving back and forth through five and six,” Keckley said. “Funny thing is, Alex was a little superstitious about playing in that six spot because he hasn’t been as successful in that spot as the five. But, he’s been a leader, through and through. Moose, his nickname is ’Moose,’ he’s been a great captain for this team thus far, and he’s really worked at his doubles and his singles and a couple areas to really be who he wants to be on the tennis court. We’ve always said for Moose that lot of it is between the ears. And when he’s emotionally under control, and invested, he’s a huge positive force for this team.”

After the Toreros’ win, Keckley said that a win over Pepperdine means a lot to him and his team.

“This is probably the strongest rivalry in the conference, USD versus Pepperdine,” Keckley said. “This is always one of those matches where you circle it on the calendar, you look forward to it, you talk about it, and you expect that it’s gonna be emotionally charged, and that’s what it was today. Anytime you can get a win over the Waves, it means something. The guys were fired up; they were excited. And they should be.”

Joel Gamerov shared his thoughts on his team’s win.

“It’s always good to win against Pepperdine; it’s special,” Gamerov said.

As the WCC tournament approaches with the Toreros currently sitting at first place in the conference, Keckley shared his team’s mindset moving forward.

“We’ve continued to talk about just taking it a match at a time,” Keckley said. “This whole season has been a process, especially when you have such youth on your roster. Seven of our nine players are freshman and sophomores. So every match is a good opportunity for them to learn for the future and look to the next match in order to gain some clarity on how to be successful not only as an individual but as a team.“

He also mentioned his teams’ chemistry.

“So, we’ve just been talking about the process non-stop, and the guys buy into it. We have a great group of guys who all enjoy each other’s company and work hard on the tennis court, and they’re tennis players — that’s big.”

The Toreros, who are defending WCC champions, have two road matchups against the University of the Pacific and Saint Mary’s College before the WCC Championship begins on April 26 at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif.