Priya Cooper / Asst. Sports Editor

  The  Toreros took  home their first WCC  Tournament title since 2022, while also securing their place in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Saturday, April 20 at the Hogan Tennis Center, the No. 18 ranked San Diego men’s tennis team (20-3, 7-1 WCC) received  their eighth West Coast Conference (WCC) regular season  title  by   defeating   Loyola Marymount University (LMU) (11-10, 4-4 WCC) with a decisive 4-0 win. To follow up this victory, the  Toreros  defeated Santa Clara (18-6, 4-4 WCC) in the semifinal at  the Aztec Tennis Center in San Diego on April 25 and Pepperdine (14-11, 7-1 WCC), on Saturday April 27 to win the 2024 WCC Tournament. 

   USD    junior      Nikhil Niranjan shared his emotions  about  making it this far in the tournament. 

  “We know that any title is hard to come by, and to win the regular season is a pretty sweet feeling.” Niranjan said. “It’s a culmination of all the work that we’ve put in throughout the whole season. But, we know that the next few matches we have in the WCC Tournament and the NCAA Championships are our biggest opportunities of the season. So, we’re ready to keep getting after it, and our best tennis is yet to come.”

  Niranjan also talked about why the Toreros will be hard to beat in the games to come. 

  “Our team camaraderie and unity is pretty special. We are a loud and energetic group of guys that are willing to do whatever it takes on the court for each other. We have trust in the immense amount of work we’ve put in for months to get us to this point. I think that’s what makes us a tough team to face,” Niranjan said.

  Winning the game against LMU marked the Toreros’ eighth regular season title in the last ten years, proving a huge accomplishment. San Diego gained an  advantage against LMU when   the   opposing   doubles team retired and withdrew from their match earlier than expected. This gave the Toreros a boost for singles by winning the doubles point. The team then continued to win their singles matches quickly, indicating a dominant performance following the initial retirement.

   With the Toreros’ victory over LMU, USD senior Blake Kasday and  USD redshirt  senior   Sacchitt Sharrma have been named the West Coast Conference Doubles Team of the Week,  announced by the conference this past week on April 23. This marks Sharrma’s second doubles award of the season and the fifth of his career. For Kasday, it’s the first weekly honor he’s received.

    The   duo   teamed   up   for the first time this season and excelled, cruising to a 6-0 win to secure the doubles point for the Toreros and contribute to their 4-0 win  against  LMU. The  victory also coincided with Sharrma’s senior day, potentially his final home match. Additionally, the win enabled the Toreros to secure a share of the West Coast Conference regular season title and claim the number one seed spot for the WCC Tournament.

    San Diego has dominated the end of season WCC honors, with USD sophomore Oliver Tarvet standing out, as the WCC Player of the Year. Tarvet leads the way for the Toreros in the national rankings, standing at No. 6 in the nation in singles according to the latest ITA rankings.

    Tarvet,     plus     redshirt sophomore Stian Klaassen, second-year Lambert Ruland, junior Iiro Vasa and graduate student Savriyan Danilov all   took home All-WCC singles honors. Meanwhile, Klaassen and Tarvet, as well as Sharrma and Vasa earned All-WCC doubles honors.

   The Toreros will now travel to Texas A&M for the NCAA tournament where they are scheduled to play No. 40 Baylor on Friday, May 3. This will be the first time facing Baylor, but San Diego’s 19th appearance in the program’s history. If they win the team will take on the winner of No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 49 Rice on Saturday. 

Toreros cheer in excitement about their multitude of accomplishments this week. Photo courtesy of @usd_tennis/Instagram