SAN DIEGO - Before freshman Solymar Colling played a point at San Diego, she shared a conversation with head tennis coach Sherri Stephens last September.
 
"I'm going to be No. 1," said Colling.
 
"On the team?" replied Stephens.
 
"No," said Colling, "in the nation."
 
"You might want to start with being No. 1 on the team," cautioned Stephens. "You're a freshman."
 
To which Colling said, "Doesn't matter."
 
Fast forward to today. The Toreros are deep into the season and Colling has backed her calling, boasting a 12-4 singles record in dual matches, 13-3 in doubles, with every match played at No. 1.
 
Raised up the coast in Orange and in El Paso, Texas, Colling is a delightful 18-year-old who is as upbeat and bright as her name. Her mother is from Honduras. Her father is Canadian and speaks fluent Spanish. It was her father, Randal, who named Solymar.
 
You don't have to be fluent in Spanish to translate that name. "Sol" means sun. "Y" equals and. "Mar" means sea.
 
Sun and sea.
 
"I do like my name," said Colling. "I'm grateful."
 
On and off the court, Colling carries herself with an assured, almost regal bearing. Shoulders back. Head held high. At 5-feet-6, she is hardly physically imposing. Then you watch her pound away from the baseline, a flat two-handed backhand, a flat, forceful forehand and you wonder.
 
"Where does all that power come from?" said USD senior Maria-Paula Torres, Colling's doubles partner.
 
"I think it's a natural talent, in a lot of ways," said Stephens. "Her timing at contact is usually perfect. Her technique is very good."
 
Sitting in the Student Life Pavilion, Colling was asked where she generates that power.
 
"Honestly," she said. "I don't know. Growing up, I've always had the same game. Power is just something that comes natural to me."
 
Had you been sitting at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center last Friday afternoon you would have witnessed how much tennis means to Colling. Riding a 12-match winning streak, the Toreros (or "T-ros," as Colling likes to call her team) were taking on perennial West Coast Conference power Pepperdine.
 
Tennis is a sport with no clock. Except at the college level. When a team has won enough points to secure a match, the other matches are stopped, regardless of the score. With Colling leading Pepperdine's Ashley Lahey by one set, the second set tied at 5-all, the Waves clinched the match.
 
The Colling-Lahey duel was halted and with it came a chance for Colling to elevate her singles ranking to a level that likely would have clinched her a spot in the NCAA singles tournament. Lahey finished runner-up in last year's NCAA singles tournament. Colling came in ranked 64th in singles. Qualifying for the NCAA tournament is a major goal for Colling.
 
After shaking hands with Lahey at the net, then shaking the referee's hand, Colling walked to her courtside chair and cried.
 
Hours later, Colling said, "It really sucks I wasn't able to finish because I knew I was going to win. That just kind of broke my heart. There was no chance I was going to lose."
 
Up 4-3 in the second set, Colling took an assessment of her teammates' matches. She knew the Waves were closing in on the match victory and she rushed herself, trying to quickly secure the win. Instead, she played two loose games, lost them, before evening matters at 5-all.
 
"If I calmed down those two games, I would have finished," said Colling.
 
"She's all in," Stephens said of Colling's desire. "She's all in for the team. She's all in for her career."
 
A real estate major, Colling longs to play the game professionally.
 
Colling comes from a family of female tennis players. Her father once owned a car dealership and Colling's older sister passed time hitting a tennis ball against a wall at the car lot.
 
"Maybe you should actually play tennis," her father told Solymar's sister, Jazmin. Jazmin went on to play at NYU. Older sister Clarisa is the No. 2 singles player at Sonoma State. Solymar is the best of the bunch.
 
On some teams, it might create a rift if a freshman were to plop down onto campus and ascend to No. 1. Not with Solymar.
 
"She's very, very friendly. She's always laughing," said Torres. "She makes a lot of jokes, too."
 
"Off the court, she loves to laugh, loves to dance," said Stephens. "The girls just love her."
 
Those teammates respect Colling's commitment to the game.
 
"If we practice two hours, she practices four," said Torres. "We all want to help her. If she wants to practice extra, we're there for her."
 
Colling's game has room to grow. She hits the ball flat and deep, moving opponents side to side. Yet when her opponent is on the run, she seldom approaches the net, ending points early, as if the front of the court is no-man's land.
 
"She kind of lets them back in the point," said Stephens.
 
Even in doubles, Colling does the bulk of her damage from the baseline.
 
"For sure, that's something I need to work on 1,000 percent," said Colling. "There's no secret there. Everyone can see that."
 
Rest assured, Colling will address any weakness because there's no place she'd rather be than on a rectangular court, decorated with lines and a net.
 
"Being on the court makes me happy," said Colling. "If there are any problems in my life, I know being on the court everything's going to be fine."