San Diego's match against USC was changed to Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. due to expected inclement weather on originally schedule date of Jan. 31.

SAN DIEGO - The year was 1985. A movie ticket cost $2.75. CDs were introduced. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert were in the midst of their serve-and-volleyer vs. baseliner rivalry.
 
And a young woman from Phoenix, Sherri Stephens, was appointed head women's tennis coach at San Diego.
 
Wood rackets long ago gave way to space-age carbon fiber models. Women's tennis supremacy has been passed from Navratilova to Steffi Graf to Monica Seles to Martina Hingis to Serena Williams.
 
But Stephens is still coaching at USD, beginning her 35^th season. She helped guide Zuzana Lesenarova to the 1999 NCAA Division I singles title, the only Division I championship in USD history.
 
Stephens' career win total stands at 389. She knows a bit about forehands, backhands and drop shots. She also understands the importance camaraderie plays in a college team sport that is intrinsically individualistic.
 
And in Year 35 at USD, Stephens has a gut feeling about this year's team.
 
On a rain-soaked Monday inside Jenny Craig Pavilion, Stephens said, "This group of girls is a little bit unique in all my years. I don't know that I've ever had it all, which is talent, along with camaraderie, along with a team that wants it for themselves and each other."
 
At the rain-shortened National Collegiate Tennis Classic at Rancho Mirage the Toreros offered a hint to the possibilities that might unfold in 2019. Freshman Solymar Colling, from 92 miles up the coast in Orange, advanced to the singles semifinals before play was halted.
 
Colling's biggest win came when she handed Stanford sophomore Michaela Gordon a 7-5, 6-3 defeat. Gordon earned All-American honors last year in singles and doubles and was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
 
Colling and Maria-Paula Torres advanced to the doubles semis before falling to a UCLA team.
 
Kati Kukaras, a junior from Germany, won two singles and a doubles match the first day of the tournament.
 
"The level of tennis at that tournament – Stanford and UCLA and Mississippi and Arizona – I feel we were at the top of that competition at every level," said Stephens.
 
Colling stands 5-feet-6 but packs plenty of power from the baseline.
 
"Very, very powerful flat drives off both sides," said Stephens. "She overpowers most of her opponents."
 
Stephens isn't ready to anoint the freshman as the Toreros' No. 1 singles player. Stephens expects Colling and juniors Nicole Anderson and Daniela Morales to contend for the top spot.
 
Anderson was bothered by a left wrist injury last season but still compiled 21 wins, 14 in doubles.
 
"Nicole is an incredible fighter," said Stephens. "She hits a big ball, especially off her forehand side. But more than anything she's just an incredible fighter. Imagine playing with one hand (last year) and winning. It was incredible."
 
The left-handed Morales is blessed with a wicked serve.
 
"She can put it anywhere," said Stephens.
 
Stephens said the next three singles spots will be a battle between Kukaras, Torres, Gemma Garcia, Maria Tyrina and Sophia Chow.
 
USD plays in the Long Beach Invite this weekend. The first dual match is Jan. 30 at USC.
 
Stephens stands 11 wins shy of 400 and readily admits reaching the milestone will be meaningful.
 
"Our schedule is very tough," she said. "We don't dummy it down. There are a lot of coaches that will play teams that aren't very strong to get all those wins. We haven't done that. Getting to 400 would be 400 against some real good teams. That would be pretty cool."
 
The Toreros are as skilled in the classroom as they are on their home blue courts. The team's GPA last semester: 3.44.
 
Asked why she has coached three and a half decades at USD, Stephens gathered herself and gave a heart-felt answer.
 
"I absolutely love it," she said. "I am the most blessed person that I can think of in that I do a job that I absolutely adore at a university I absolutely treasure. (I'm) around people every day who mean so much to me.
 
"(It) could be people that facility maintenance staff, to the groundskeepers. We're all friends. We're all family. It means everything to me. This is my life on this Earth."
 
Stephens' voice choked up and tears welled in her eyes as she continued.
 
"I feel like I make a difference in women's lives," she said. "These girls come in, they work hard, they become real good people and now they go out and have jobs and are mothers, doctors and lawyers.
 
"And we're all really close. What could be more important than that?"

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