SAN DIEGO – Owing in part to the team's international flavor with eight countries represented on the roster, San Diego's men's tennis team begins practice playfully booting a soccer ball about. Then the team jogs three laps around the tennis courts, each player touching the Toreros' West Coast Conference Championship banner.
 
"It's a reminder of what we're working for," said USD head coach Ryan Keckley.
 
When it comes to cross-court groundstrokes and crisp volleys, USD dominates the WCC. Try five straight WCC Tournament championships. Try four regular-season titles in the past five years. Try eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
USD opens the 2019 spring season Saturday with a home match against Utah State at 1 p.m. PT, and with a veteran team returning, the Toreros have established lofty goals.
 
A sixth straight WCC Tournament title. An undefeated run through the WCC dual-match season and come May, advancing to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA team tournament for the first time in Division I history. The Toreros have advanced to the Round of 32 in two of the past three years.
 
Of the goals, top singles player August Holmgren of Denmark said, "I think it's great. It's going to be tough, but it's definitely doable. We have a very, very strong team this year."
 
Keckley lost just one senior off last year's team and returns five of the top six players. Three of those returnees are juniors, plus Holmgren, a sophomore.
 
"The most important message," said Keckley, "is we're not that young anymore. The past two years we had freshmen and sophomores earn NCAA championship experience. Quite frankly, the growth and maturity of each player makes us that much more dangerous."
 
Holmgren is ranked 83rd in the ITA singles rankings and opens the season at No. 1 singles.
 
"He's an aggressive baseliner who has worked diligently on coming forward (to the net)," said Keckley. "He's one of those guys who works tirelessly. He's the definition of hard work. If he believes something will give him a .5 percentage of getting better to win a match, he'll do it."
 
To improve his reaction time, Holmgren has worked on visual therapy to train his eyes to react quicker to the ball.
 
"It's all about how fast the eyes can convey the image of the ball to the brain, so I can move a split-second faster," said Holmgren, who also keeps a diary after almost every practice.
 
Portugal's Gui Osorio is ranked 117th in the ITA rankings.
 
"He's cool, calm and collected," Keckley said of Osorio. "There's no panic in his eyes. And he's one of the best competitors we have."
 
Holmgren and Osorio are also excellent doubles players. At last October's ITA Regionals in Malibu, the Toreros had two doubles teams advance to the finals for the first time in school history. Holmgren and Sweden's Joel Gamerov defeated Osorio and Switzerland's Nico Borter 7-6 (5), 6-3.
 
In the preseason, Osorio and Borter were the ITA's 10th-ranked doubles team. In the most recent rankings, Holmgren and Gamerov climbed to No. 12.
 
The 5-foot-9 Borter is one of the Toreros' hardest hitters.
 
"I like playing aggressive," said Borter. "I like to dictate points. Ultimately, my goal is to finish off points at the net."
 
Gamerov has won more than 30 matches the past two seasons.
 
"His defensive skill set is incredible," said Keckley. "His movement on the court and ability to keep rallies going makes his opponent uncomfortable."
 
The Toreros are also strengthened by the return of junior Guus Koevermans, who missed last season with a wrist injury.
 
While the Toreros have set big goals for 2019, Keckley said one of the team's strengths is its day-to-day approach to improving.
 
"Day to day, we try to get one percent better," said Keckley, who's in his fourth season as head coach.
 
As an example of that approach, after a recent taxing practice week, Keckley asked each player to text him with one burning concept where they wanted to improve the next week.
 
The texts arrived quickly. One player wanted to improve his forehand on the run. Another wanted a more solid back leg to boost his serve. Another said he wanted to react with positive energy at difficult stages of matches.
 
"It gives them ownership of their development and growth," said Keckley.
 
As for those significant 2019 goals, the Toreros welcome them.
 
"I'm not scared off by the goals," said Borter. "It's motivating. We all know we want to achieve that."