Jan. 25, 2011
Complete Men's Tennis Release in PDF Format
SAN DIEGO, Calif.-UP NEXT:
ITA National Indoor Qualifier
Knoxville, Tenn.
Friday, Jan. 28th-Sunday, Jan. 30th
LAST TIME: The Toreros opened their dual match season with back-to-back wins this past Saturday at home against UC San Diego and #38 BYU. The Toreros defeated UC San Diego 5-2 as they won all three doubles matches and four of six singles contests. Against the Cougars, USD earned a 6-1 victory as Thibaut Visy and Nikola Bubnic each defeated ranked opponents in singles. Visy topped #88 Patrick Kawka 6-0, 6-1, while Bubnic earned a 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win over #110 Evan Urbina.
LOOKING AHEAD: USD is heading to Knoxville, Tenn. to compete in the ITA National Indoor Qualifier Jan. 28th-30th. The Toreros will open the tournament with a matchup against #3 Tennessee, with their following opponent(s) to be determined. USD is 0-1 all-time against the Volunteers, with their only meeting resulting in a 5-3 Tennessee victory on a neutral court in 1991. The Volunteers enter the match with a 1-0 record after defeating #51 East Tennessee State 7-0 this past Friday and feature the top-ranked singles player in the country in Rhyne Williams.
OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: The Toreros 5-2 win over UC San Diego in this past Saturday's dual match opener marked the first time USD has had back-to-back season-opening wins since the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Last year the Toreros opened the season with a 6-1 win at home against UC Riverside. In 2000, USD defeated UC Riverside 7-0 at home and followed it with a 6-1 win at home against BYU in the 2001 season opener.
BUMPED UP: The Toreros moved up to #47 in this week's Campbell/ITA Division I men's rankings. USD jumped up 11 spots from #58 after opening the season with two wins, including a 6-1 victory over #38 BYU. GOING STREAKING: Sophomore Thibaut Visy (13-6 in singles) has stretched his career-high singles winning streak to eight matches now, after earning two singles victories this past weekend. His current streak started with a win over USC's Joel Giger on Oct. 22nd.
DOUBLE DOUBLE: Dean Jackson and Patrick Pohlmann, ranked seventh in the first ITA doubles rankings of the season, opened the season with a pair of doubles wins this past Saturday, improving their doubles record to 10-1 between the fall and spring. They fought back to beat UC San Diego's Elliott and West, 9-7, and followed that with an 8-4 victory over BYU's Urbina and Kawka. Jackson and Pohlmann are looking to become the highest-ranked doubles pair in USD history. The Toreros have never had a doubles tandem finish the season ranked in the top-10, however Jose Luis Noriega and J.R. Edwards finished the 1990 season ranked 22nd after posting a 13-5 dual match record. The last Torero doubles pair to finish the season ranked was in 2006 when Pierrick Ysern and Thomas Liversage went 11-4 and earned a No. 32 ranking.
SPEAKING OF DOUBLES... Seniors Dean Jackson and Nils Schive have combined for 28 doubles wins over their careers, which ranks fifth all-time in Torero history. Scott Patridge and David Stewart hold the record for most wins by a doubles pair in USD history, piling up 48 wins from 1986-88.
MOVIN' ON UP: Senior Dean Jackson is nearing entrance into the top-10 in the USD record books for career singles victories after earning his 69th career singles win by beating BYU's Thomas Shubert this past Saturday. The most recent win puts him four behind Scott Patridge (1984-88), whose 73 career singles victories is 10th in Torero history. Jose Luis Noriega (1989-92) holds the Torero record with 100.
QUICK LEARNER: Torero freshman Clarke Spinosa hasn't wasted any time making his mark in the Torero lineup, posting a 9-3 singles record betwen the fall and spring. Spinosa earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory over UC San Diego's Chapman Chan this past Saturday at the No. 2 position, and beat BYU's Georgy Batrakov 7-6(4), 6-2 playing at No. 4. Spinosa has been no slouch in doubles either, posting a 7-3 doubles mark, including the fall. Spinosa teamed with Thibaut Visy for an 8-1 win over BYU's Smith and Campos this past Saturday as the Toreros' No. 3 doubles pair. WCC TOURNAMENT: The 2011 West Coast Conference Championships with again be held at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif. April 21st-23rd.
NEW FACES: The Toreros welcome four newcomers to the 2010-2011 squad. Junior Patrick Pohlmann (Cologne, Germany) transfers to USD this season after playing his first two collegiate campaigns at the University of Wisconsin. Pohlmann was named Wisconsin's team newcomer of the year as a freshman and compiled an overall singles record of 39-12 in two seasons with the Badgers. Freshman Clarke Spinosa (Claremont, Calif.) earned Blue Chip recruit status from tennisrecruiting.net, while also being recognized as one of the top-10 prospects. Spinosa garnered a top-20 USTA ranking and a top-five ranking in the Southern California section. Freshman Emilio Mora (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) was a four-star recruit coming out of Rye Neck High School, while earning a No. 56 national junior ranking, including a No. 6 ranking in the state of New York. Mora went 41-21 over his high school career. Freshman Moritz Melchior (Hamburg, Germany) joined the Toreros this January and is expected to add depth to the lineup.
2009-2010 REVIEW: The Toreros finished 12-9 overall en route to a third-place finish in the West Coast Conference tournament and a No. 61 ITA ranking. Dean Jackson and Nikola Bubnic represented USD on the All-WCC Singles First-Team after posting dual-match records of 14-2 and 17-3, respectively. Thibaut Visy earned singles honorable mention recognition after going 10-10 in dual-matches.
STAY CONNECTED: Fans can follow USD athletics via Twitter (@USDToreros), Facebook (www.facebook.com/USDathletics), and with mobile alerts sent directly to a cellphone or mobile device by visiting www.usdtoreros.com. Fans can also follow men's tennis directly on Facebook by visiting their team page at www.usdtoreros.com and clicking on the "Links" tab.
HEAD COACH Brett Masi: Brett Masi enters his second season at USD after posting a 12-9 record during his first campaign in 2009-2010 and leading the Toreros to a No. 61 national ranking. Prior to USD, Masi served as the top assistant at the University of Southern California from 2005-2009, helping coach the team to a 2009 national championship while earning ITA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 2007 and 2008. He spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons as an assistant with the Santa Clara men's and women's programs. Masi was a four-year letter-winner at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2001), ending his career as one of Cal Poly's winningest players, going 60-29 during his career.
