Weekly Recap

Fall season teams close out regular season; Holmgren is ITA champion

MARI OLSON / SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

University of San Diego tennis players competed in their Fall Nationals event this weekend, while men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and football all played their final home games of the regular season. Find your favorite team below to see how everyone fared. 

Tennis 

USD men’s and women’s tennis each sent an athlete to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Fall Nationals this season, played Nov. 4 through Nov. 7 at San Diego’s own Barnes Tennis Center. 

Redshirt senior, August Holmgren, and sophomore, Abigail Desiatnikov, competed in the singles events at the culmination event for the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) fall tennis season. Holmgren was ranked no. 3 entering the tournament. 

Desiatnikov won her first-round match, 7-5, 6-3, but was defeated 7-5, 6-2 in the round of 16 by Ohio State University junior, Irina Cantos.

Holmgren won his first-round and second round matchups, beating University of Virginia sophomore, Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, and University of Mississippi senior, Finn Reynolds in two sets each. 

On Friday, Holmgren’s quarterfinal opponent was University of Oklahoma senior, Mason Beiler. Holmgren already beat Beiler this season, winning in two sets against the senior at the ITA Men’s All-American tournament in early October. 

Once again, Holmgren beat Beiler, defeating the player in two sets to continue his march through the tournament. 

Holmgren’s semi-final opponent was the no. 1 ranked University of Washington junior, Clement Chidekh. In the match on Saturday morning, Holmgren upset Chidekh 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 to secure a spot in the final. 

Holmgren played Stanford’s no. 2 ranked sophomore, Arthur Fery, in the final. After a highly competitive match, and in front of a crowd full of USD fans, Holmgren came out on top, beating the Cardinal 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 to become the ITA Fall National Champion for 2021. 

Keep an eye out for Holmgren and the rest of the men’s and women’s tennis teams this spring as they begin to compete in conference play.  

Women’s soccer

Women’s soccer played their final home game of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 3, taking on the Saint Mary’s College (SMC) Gaels at home. The Toreros fell 0-3 this match.

Saint Mary’s scored in the 18th minute to make the score 0-1 at halftime. 

The Toreros couldn’t keep the Gaels out in the second half, and Saint Mary’s scored twice, in the 49th and 84th minutes, for a final score of 0-3. 

SMC had 21 shots to USD’s five. Junior forwards, Bekah Valdez and Delaney Jannone, each had a shot on target for the Toreros, but it wasn’t enough to boost the team to a win. 

USD women’s soccer played  their final game of the 2021 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 6, taking on the University of San Francisco Dons in the Bay Area. 

The Dons defeated the Toreros by a score of 0-3. Three first half goals by USF – two of which were scored less than a minute apart – put the Toreros into a deficit they couldn’t overcome through the rest of the game.

Women’s soccer ended their 2021 season with an overall record of 6-11-1, and a West Coast Conference (WCC) record of 1-7-1. 

Men’s soccer 

USD men’s soccer also played their final home game of the season on Friday night, but lost to the University of the Pacific (UOP) Tigers 1-2. 

The Toreros left everything on the field but couldn’t find a way to mark the end of the 2021 home season with a win. 

After an end-to-end first half which saw the Toreros attempt eight shots and force two saves by UOP’s senior goalkeeper, Eric Cotton, the Tigers found a goal in the 40th minute to put them ahead 0-1. 

UOP started the second half strong, scoring a second goal almost immediately back from the break. 

The Toreros continued to fight for a comeback. Sophomore midfielder, Ross Johnstone, and first-year forward, Luke Pardoe, had shots rebound off the crossbar and the post. 

Finally, junior forward, Mason Tunbridge, slotted the ball into the Tigers’ net in the 57th minute to make the score 1-2. 

USD couldn’t get an equalizer, although they attempted 19 shots over the course of the game, and the score remained 1-2 to UOP at full time. 

Men’s soccer will play their final game of the regular season at Saint Mary’s College on Saturday, Nov. 13. 

Volleyball

The USD volleyball team continued to dominate their WCC play this weekend as the Toreros steamrolled the University of Portland (UP) away on Thursday night, winning in straight sets. 

USD won 25-18, 25-21, 25-14 to make their conference record 10-1. They were better than UP in kills, assists, aces, blocks, and points across the three sets. 

Junior outside hitter, Grace Frohling, was the outlying leader in kills for the match, coming up with 19 kills for the Toreros. Junior setter, Isadora Terçariol, also put on a show in Portland, leading USD in both assists, with 33, and digs, with 12. 

The volleyball team continued their Pacific Northwest road trip in Spokane, Washington, on Saturday afternoon, taking on Gonzaga University. USD has never lost to the Bulldogs. 

That streak continued this weekend, as the Toreros won 3-1. USD dropped the third set to the Bulldogs, 25-20, but came right back in the fourth set to seal the win. 

Senior outside hitter, Katie Lukes, set a new career-high for kills during the match, with 27.

USD volleyball is now 12-1 in conference play this season with five games left to play. This weekend the Toreros take Pepperdine University, back home in the Jenny Craig Pavilion, on Saturday, Nov. 13. USD’s final conference game will be a tough matchup against no. 6 Brigham Young University on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.