Weekly Recap

Tennis competes in regional championships; football ties points record

Mari Olson / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

All teams played away this week. With women’s soccer in the Pacific Northwest, volleyball in Utah, and men’s tennis in Malibu, USD athletes were scattered throughout the country. Keep reading for an overview of how your favorite team did on their road trips. 

Women’s soccer

USD women’s soccer played the University of Portland Pilots away on Wednesday, Oct. 20. The Toreros fell 1-4 to the Pilots. 

All of the goals were scored in the second half: Portland scored twice in three minutes by the 62nd minute to put the Toreros down 0-2, but USD was able to cut Portland’s lead in half three minutes later, when sophomore midfielder, Aryssa Mahrt, scored  her second goal of the season. 

Portland scored twice more before the end of the game for a final score of 1-4. 

The Toreros found more attacking mojo on Wednesday, with 11 shots total and five shots on goal. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Pilots. 

The team also traveled to Spokane, Washington on Saturday, Oct. 23 to play the Gonzaga University Bulldogs. The Toreros lost 0-1 to the Bulldogs. 

Gonzaga scored 15 seconds into the game for the winning goal. 

Redshirt junior goalkeeper, Judith Sorribes, played for most of the match and made six saves in the second half to keep the Toreros within striking distance. However, the attack couldn’t find a way through the Bulldog defense, even with 11 shots and three on goal during the game.

Women’s soccer plays next against University of the Pacific at Torero Stadium on Friday, Oct. 29. 

Volleyball

No. 21-ranked volleyball was handed their first West Coast Conference defeat of the season to the no. 8-ranked Brigham Young University Cougars on Friday, Oct. 22. The Toreros lost in straight sets to the Cougars. 

BYU won 25-17, 25-13, 25-13 in Provo. USD knew this was going to be a tough game from the beginning of the season. The Cougars have always been a top opponent, and USD is 9-12 against BYU all time. 

The Toreros were outdone by the Cougars on kills, digs, and assists, and even on blocks with four each. USD had no aces on the night. 

Senior outside hitter, Katie Lukes, still made 12 kills over the three sets, and senior setter, Laura Madill, had 12 assists. 

Coming up against a top-10 team was always going to be a tough challenge for the Toreros, and they handled it well under the circumstances. 

USD will look to rebound from the loss and get back to winning ways against Santa Clara University on Thursday, Oct. 28 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP). They will play the University of San Francisco on Saturday, Oct. 30, also at the JCP. The Toreros have already beaten both of those teams this season. 

Men’s and women’s tennis 

USD men’s and women’s tennis competed in the ITA Southwest Regional Championship, beginning on Thursday, Oct. 21. 

In the doubles tournament, redshirt senior, David Norfeldt, and redshirt sophomore, Marvin Schaber, beat their opponents in the second round. They fell in the round of 16 to a duo from the University of Southern California. 

Senior, Will Davies, and redshirt sophomore, Sacchitt Sharrma, beat their second round opponent from the University of California, Irvine, but lost in the round of 16 to a pair from Pepperdine University.

All four also competed in the singles event, but none made it past the round of 64. 

In the women’s tournament, sophomores, Abigail Desiatnikov and Jordyn McBride, won through four rounds and made it to the quarterfinals of the doubles draw, where they were defeated by a pair from the University of California, Los Angeles. 

In the singles event, Desiatnikov and redshirt junior, Solymar Colling, each made it all the way through their respective rounds to play each other in the semifinal. Colling was ranked 5th seed coming into the tournament.

Desiatnikov upset Colling in the semifinal on Sunday, winning in three sets for a place in the final. She played junior, Lisa Zaar, from Pepperdine University on Monday morning. Desiatnikov was defeated in the final in two sets.

Men’s tennis plays next in the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships on Oct. 28 through Oct. 30 in Los Angeles. Both tennis teams will also compete in the ITA Fall National Championships on Nov. 4 through Nov. 7 in San Diego. 

Men’s soccer 

The men’s soccer team traveled to the Bay Area over the weekend, coming up against Santa Clara University (SCU). The Toreros fought hard but lost to the Broncos by a score of 2-3. 

Santa Clara scored all three of their goals in the first half, and the Toreros were down 0-3 in the 30th minute. 

The team fought hard to make a comeback, and in the 35th minute, sophomore forward, Nicklas Clausen, headed the ball into the net from a corner kick taken by junior forward, Mason Tunbridge. 

Clausen scored his second goal of the evening in the 52nd minute at the beginning of the second half to make the score 2-3, with the Broncos still in the lead. 

SCU and USD went back and forth in the final 40 minutes of the game, but neither could find a way into the back of the net and the game ended at 2-3 to Santa Clara. 

The Toreros return to San Diego to play the University of San Francisco on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Torero Stadium. USF is also winless in the WCC so far.

Football

USD football had a field day against Presbyterian University Blue Hose in Clinton, South Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 23. The Toreros won 69-28 against the Blue Hose. 

The win tied the record for the most points scored in a single game by Torero football, and also made head coach, Dale Lindsey, the winningest coach in USD football history with 72 wins.  

An offensive explosion in the second quarter saw four USD touchdowns: graduate student quarterback, Mason Randall, first-year wide receiver, Vance Jefferson, senior wide receiver, Christian Brown, and graduate student running back, Terrence Smith, all scored for the Toreros before the first half was over. 

The scoreline at halftime was 35-14 in favor of the Toreros after two touchdowns in the second quarter by Presbyterian. 

Another two offensive touchdowns and a blocked punt turned into a punt return touchdown by redshirt junior linebacker, David Ambagtsheer, in the third quarter gave USD 62 points going into the final 15 minutes of the game. 

One final touchdown in the fourth quarter gave the Toreros their record-tying 69 points. A final score of 69-28 put USD over 40 points clear of Presbyterian. 

The win brings the Torero’s record back to even for the season at 4-4. The team has won four straight Pioneer Football League (PFL) matches for a PFL record of 4-1. 

Randall and Ambagtsheer were both recognized with PFL Player of the Week awards.

Football plays next at Torero Stadium against Valparaiso on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m.