Toreros swept by Waves
USD women’s tennis loses to No. 7 Pepperdine, who claim conference championship
Maria Watters / Asst. Sports Editor / The USD Vista
The University of San Diego’s women’s tennis team battled their West Coast Conference (WCC) rival, the 7th-ranked Pepperdine Waves, in a match that would decide the conference championship at home on Sunday, April 25.
The Toreros and Waves first met on the doubles courts as they fought for the first overall team point. USD secured the first victory in the best-of-three contest on court one. But the Waves evened the score at one set a piece by winning on court three after a close tie-breaker. The fight for the doubles point came down to court two, where both teams were locked in the second tie-breaker of the day. Ultimately, the Waves came out on top, taking the lead in the overall score 1-0 over the Toreros. After defeating USD in doubles, Pepperdine continued to dominate throughout the singles matches. Despite needing three sets to decide the victor on three of the six singles courts, the Waves managed to sweep the Toreros 7-0. By defeating USD, Pepperdine took home their eighth consecutive WCC conference championship, their 28th title in program history.
The importance of Saturday’s match against no. 7 Pepperdine could not be understated. The USD women’s tennis team had more than just the WCC conference championship on the line.
Heading into the match, the 14-3 Toreros had not lost a match since their 3-4 loss against Cal Berkeley in March, a nine-game winning streak that was rapidly approaching the program record for most consecutive wins at 11. What’s more, the Toreros had not lost a single team point in their last four matchups, including against two conference opponents. Their 4-0 victory over no. 44 Washington marked their tenth sweep of the season, passing the all-time program record of nine set in 1983.
But apart from the possibility of setting program records, a victory over 19-4 Pepperdine and 12-7 Gonzaga later in the week would secure USD the WCC title and an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) tournament.
With their fate in their own hands, and the WCC Championship in their sights, the Toreros entered into their match against Pepperdine eager to take on such a formidable opponent.
“Our mindset going into Pepperdine was good,” redshirt sophomore Solymar Colling said. “We had a lot of belief and wanted to use this opportunity to try and show how good we are as a team.”
The contest began with three doubles matchups for the first overall team point. The first team to win on two courts would enter into the singles matches with a 1-0 lead. Court one was the first to finish. Colling and redshirt first year Elizabeth Goldsmith took on graduate students Jessica Failla and Shiori Fukuda. Ultimately, Colling and Goldsmith secured the win, defeating their opponents 6-4.
Despite a hard-fought battle, the Toreros weren’t as successful on the court three, where redshirt senior Kati Kukaras and first year Elisabeth Andryukhova had forced their opponents to a tiebreaker. But ultimately, it was Pepperdine’s sophomore Astrid Olson and graduate student Ashley Lahey who walked away with the win for the Waves.
The battle for the doubles point came down to court two, where USD’s first years Abigail Desiatnikov and Jordyn McBride had fought back from a 3-5 deficit and saved the match when the Waves’ sophomore Lisa Zaar and first year Taisiya Pachkaleva were up 6-5. While Torero fans and teammates cheered on their last hope for the doubles point, USD was unable to close out the set, losing 4-7 in the tiebreaker.
The Waves lead the Toreros 1-0 heading into the round of singles matches that would crown the WCC champion.
“I think after doubles we all seemed a little bit down because our two and three doubles lost in tiebreakers, and that showed in singles,” Colling said. “If we had won doubles the momentum would have been on our side of the court and I think would have given us a better chance at beating Pepperdine and winning conference.”
Despite their efforts to quickly force a momentum shift in the singles, USD got off to a rocky start. Sophomore Victoria Kalaitzis was the only Torero to win the first set of her match, while the rest would have to fight to win their individual best-of-three matchups.
The first contest decided was the matchup between Goldsmith and no. 26 Failla on court two. After losing the first set 2-6, Goldsmith was unable to overcome the speed and skill of Failla who closed out the match with a decisive 6-1 victory, securing the second team point for Pepperdine.
Down 0-2 overall, the Toreros were unable to stop the bleeding as Desiatnikov fell to Fukuda in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. Ultimately, the Waves clinched the team victory on court six when first year Nikki Redelijk defeated Kukaras 6-1, 6-3.
Though the Waves had already won the team victory, three singles matches had yet to be finished. After battling back into the match despite a 6-1 defeat in the first set, McBride had pushed no. 116 Pachkaleva to a third set on court three. However, due to a persistent back injury, McBride retired from the match at 0-3 in the third set.
A roller coaster of a battle was still taking place on court one, however, as no. 57 Colling was taking on the preseason number one player in the nation, Lahey. Having lost the first set 6-2, Colling came back strong in the second, forcing a third set after a 6-2 win. However, it was Lahey’s monster serve that pushed her over the top to secure a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory on the top court.
The last match to finish was the fight between Kalaitzis and Zaar on court five. Having been the only Torero to win her first set, Kalaitzis had the advantage heading into the second set. However, Zaar proceeded to dominate the rest of the match, hammering the final nail into the Toreros’ coffin with her 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
At the end of the day, the Pepperdine Waves walked away with a 7-0 sweeping victory over USD and the WCC title.
With their winning streak broken and their postseason fate undecided, the Toreros were still proud of the way they competed against their conference rival.
“We battled our hearts out and had very close matches,” assistant coach Nadia Abdala said. “But credit to Pepperdine because they played better. Today we learned a lot and we are looking forward to our last home match of the season against Gonzaga.”
Despite the loss against Pepperdine, USD’s postseason hopes are still very much alive. Though the path to the NCAA tournament is less clear, the Toreros will need a win over Gonzaga in order to have a chance at a tournament berth. Both their last match of the season and their last chance to make the tournament, the match against the Bulldogs is sure to be one of the most consequential of the season. At the time of writing, that match has not yet taken place.