Toreros take tournament title

For the fifth straight season, the USD men’s tennis team wins the West Coast Conference tournament

Anderson Haigler | Sports Editor | The USD Vista

In recent memory, very few aspects of USD athletics have been as consistent as the men’s tennis team. In the last four years leading up to the 2018 season, the team has won four consecutive West Coast Conference (WCC) tournament championships, as well as taking the regular season title in three of the last four. 

This past week, the Toreros continued their success on the court. A comeback win against Saint Mary’s College  in their final regular season competition propelled USD to a WCC regular season championship and a berth in the conference tournament. True to form, the Toreros traveled to Claremont, Calif., and prevailed against both the University of Portland and Loyola Marymount University in the semifinal and championship rounds of the tournament, respectively. By week’s end, USD had earned their fifth straight WCC tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Toreros’ week of accolades began with their matchup against the Gaels. Though they would eventually come out on top, USD got off to a slow start in their final conference game. The Toreros either were trailing, or were tied with Saint Mary’s for nearly the entire match. A tight loss in the doubles point in the number one position from first-year Nico Borter and sophomore Gui Osorio put USD in a 1-0 hole early on. 

Borter, however, was able to quickly rebound and get the Toreros on the board with a singles victory by scores of 6-0 and 6-1. The Gaels responded with two singles wins of their own, but would not be able to maintain their then 3-2 advantage. In a flurry of simultaneous success, Osorio and first-year David Norfeldt won their respective singles matches in rapid succession, sealing a come-from-behind, 4-3 win over the Gaels to close out USD’s regular season. 

USD men’s tennis head coach Ryan Keckley, who was named WCC Coach of the Year earlier this week, spoke about his team’s performance in their final regular season matchup.

“The Saint Mary’s match was an interesting one,” Keckley said. “We’ve been playing a man down for the majority of the WCC season, and we actually had to sit Joel Gamerov for the match — and Joel’s one of our best competitors. Not having him in the match made it very interesting. We didn’t play a great doubles point, we played pretty passive and we played pretty uninspired tennis in the four and six positions.”

Despite his team’s struggles early on, Keckley emphasized that the young talent on his roster was able to pick up the slack.

“We were fortunate to have three freshmen (Gui Osorio, August Holmgren, and David Norfeldt) step up to the plate when we needed it most,” Keckley said. “Which is really encouraging for our coaching staff to see in a time of need, and in a time of drama. They were really able to step up to the plate to secure a victory for our team.”

According to Keckley, the nature of the Toreros’ schedule as a whole in 2018 prepared them well for a high-leverage situation like their final matchup against the Gaels.

“We’ve been in those kind of battles all year long, and that’s kinda something we hung our hat on,” Keckley said. “That’s the reason we schedule as tough as we do, so that we’re very prepared for the WCC conference and the WCC tournament. It was nice to see all of that experience come to fruition on the road, and in a spot where they were riding us, they were testing our patience, and I thought we did a wonderful job staying composed.” 

Nico Borter shared his thoughts on his team’s conference victory.

“(This season) has been very special,” Borter said. “I was kind of nervous looking down the court, but I looked at my teammates and I knew that they were gonna win. It was the best moment to win the regular season like that with a 4-3, away win.”

Borter offered his perspective on the Toreros’ success this season.

“We’ve been playing as a team,” Borter said. “We work really hard, and we all want to win so badly.”

A week later, USD found themselves playing in yet another high-leverage matchup, this time in the semifinals of the WCC conference tournament. In a matchup against the University of Portland, the Toreros continued to rise to the occasion. Though four of the six singles matches stretched to three sets, USD came out on top in each of them. In a decisive third set, sophomore Joel Gamerov wrapped things up for the Toreros, earning them a 4-3 victory over the Pilots and advancing them to the final round of the conference tournament.

That round would prove to be less arduous for USD. The team turned in a complete, and balanced performance in nearly all respects, first getting things done early in doubles with August Holmgren and Joel Gamerov. The pair earned a 6-5 victory to give the Toreros an early lead before Nico Borter won his singles match in straight sets. Following Gamerov’s singles victory in the number four spot, the spotlight shined on Norfeldt, and he certainly rose to the occasion. After winning his first two sets, the first-year cruised to a 6-0 victory that clinched the championship and began an on-court celebration for the Toreros. The victory marked USD’s sixth straight win this season, and fifth straight WCC conference tournament title.

With their  WCC  conference tournament win, the Toreros advance to the  NCAA  Tournament. They will take on  Texas Tech University (TTU)  in the first round, which is hosted by the University of California, Los Angeles. The Red Raiders   represent a familiar opponent for USD. The two teams met earlier this season, with  the Toreros dropping a 4-3 decision.  Additionally,    TTU is coached by Brett Masi, who  served as the  men’s tennis head coach at USD from 2009-2015. Keckley  worked as an assistant  coach for Masi from 2009-2012.

The Toreros‘ match against Texas Tech is on May 12 at 9 a.m.  at the Los Angeles  Tennis Center.