LUKAS BLANKENSTEIN / ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

     USD women’s tennis dazzled at their first tournament of the season, the second annual United States Tennis Association (USTA) Intercollegiate Championships. The four-day tournament took place from Sept. 21-24. The competition was hosted by USD on the Hogan Tennis Center Courts and featured 37 singles competitors and 18 doubles teams from schools across the country.

     USD sophomore Mia Mack won the tournament in the final against University of Texas’ Vivian Ovrootsky by a final score of 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-4. During the tournament, Mack didn’t drop a set until the final against Ovrootsky.

     Originally from Löchgau, Germany, Mack is an accomplished junior tennis player, reaching number 47 in the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) junior rankings, claiming five German tennis championships, two ITF juniors doubles titles and one ITF juniors singles title. Mack started her American collegiate career for the University of Miami, where she went 20-10 in singles competition, 15-10 in doubles action and was named Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the week on four separate occasions. She then transferred to the University of San Diego in the summer of 2023 for her first tournament with the Toreros.

     Mack remarked on the significance of her premiere USD tournament this year.

     “Honestly, it felt very special to me, because it was my first ever tournament with USD on my chest, and I couldn’t have wished for a better start with my new team and coaches at a new university,” Mack said. “To know that I have that support that I’ve experienced during my first tournament week, just makes me feel so secure. Even though there were some ups and

downs, I’m very happy that I was able to get that trophy and bring it home in the end. Somehow every single win brings you a little bit more confidence and acknowledgment for the work you do every single day. All in all, I’m just so happy for us, the team at USD Women’s Tennis, because it shows that the coaches do something right.”

     Mack’s coach, Nadia Abdalá, spoke glowingly of the new champion. 

     “Our team is on a mission to test our limits and see how far we can get. This has been our motto for the past year, and the team’s hard work has been a reflection of our team and individual rankings,” Abdalá announced. “Mia’s performance at the SoCal Intercollegiate Championships shows just that. Her game and confidence improved with each match that she played. She’s undefeated in singles as a Torero, and we are very grateful that she’s representing our institution,” Abdalá said. 

     Abdalá is in her second season as the USD women’s tennis head coach. She was promoted in June 2022, after eight years as an assistant coach for the Toreros, during which she won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southwest Region’s Assistant Coach of the Year three times (2015-16, 2018-19 and 2020-21).     

      Mack heaped praise upon Abdalá and her coaching staff. 

     “It has helped me a lot. Since tennis is an individual sport, and I love to work as a team, it helped myself even more. Also to see and get to know the coaches better, was very interesting. Everyone acts differently and uses different ways to help or coach from the sideline,” Mack acknowledged. “Especially for women, it is a lot about the mental/emotional support, as well. I had the feeling that the coaches found a perfect mix of combining tactical and emotional support as well that led to that tournament win. Not only their support but also the support of my teammates that came out and stayed with me until the end meant a lot to me. It was not me as an individual that has won the trophy, it was us that earned it together as a whole team.”

      Mack was not the only successful Torero player, as Claudia De Las Heras and Jordyn McBride made it to the semifinals of the doubles category. The No. 37 ranked doubles team in the nation, De Las Heras and McBride put up a strong performance before eventually falling 7-5 to the No. 24 ranked team in the nation, Anastasiya Komar and Raquel Gonzalez of Oklahoma State University.

     De Las Heras, the No. 97 ranked singles player, also had a big singles tournament, picking up her first- ranked win against No. 116 Andjela Skrobonja of San Diego State in the quarterfinals by a final score of 6-3, 7-5. She made a run to the semifinals before eventually falling to Ovrootsky 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-2.

      The women’s team features three nationally ranked players (No. 58 Kailey Evans, No. 75 Abigail Desiatnikov, No. 97 Claudia De Las Heras) and two ranked doubles (No. 11 Elizabeth Goldsmith/ Kailey Evans, No. 37 De Las Heras/Mcbride).

     Mack explained that playing with such talented players helped her improve her game.

     “It definitely helps me to stay on top [of] everything and give it all, in every single practice I have. I think it is important to measure yourself with the ones around you

every single time you have the chance, especially when it is on such a high level — even better. Everyone of us wants to get better and improve, and the only way that’s possible is if each of us is giving their 100% on court in order to improve their own level, but the level of all their teammates as well,” Mack said. “We love to push each other and that’s what makes it fun, doesn’t matter how tough it gets. Furthermore I have to say, all the seven of us have their own qualities, which makes it so much more interesting, and we can always learn from each other. It’s all about holding each other accountable.”

     Mack also expressed her pleasure at being part of USD and its accomplished women’s tennis program.

     “I’m just really thankful to have the chance to be at USD with such an amazing team around that I can share this huge journey with,” Mack said.

     “That’s not only a team, that’s family and I truly appreciate that. They just make it so easy for me to be that far away from home [Germany] and let me feel like I’m home [on] the other side of the world. All I’m going to try to do is to be the best version of myself for the whole team in any way possible on and off the court,” Mack said.

     Mack and USD women’s tennis continued their strong performance in their next tournament, the San Diego Veterans Classic, winning two out of three games against U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Denver and Loyola Marymount University. The team played at ITA Southwest Regionals on Oct. 19-24 and their next tournament will be ITA Fall Nationals on Nov. 2-5 in San Diego.

Mack is the 2nd Annual SoCal Intercollegiate singles champion in her first Torero event and she credits her coaches and team.

Photo courtesy of Mia Mack