SAN DIEGO — In what is likely a battle for the WCC regular season title, the Toreros will aim for a share of their first ever, taking on the only other unbeaten team in the conference in USD's penultimate match of the regular season. 

The match will be streamed live on the Cracked Racquets YouTube with college tennis personality Alex Gruskin (X: @AlGruskin) calling the action. Inside coverage can also be found on the @USDWtennis social channels.
 

#57 San Diego Toreros (9-8, 4-0 WCC)  • #26 Pepperdine Waves (9-10, 3-0 WCC)

Saturday, April 12, 2025  •  12 PM

Hogan Tennis Center • San Diego, Calif.

Live Streaming • Cracked Racquets on YouTube • Live Stats • USDToreros.com

 X.com/USDMTennis  •  Instagram.com/usd_tennis

WHATS AT STAKE

• With a win Saturday, the Toreros would clinch a share of their first ever WCC regular season championship

• San Diego currently holds a slight upper hand in the conference standings at 4-0 while Pepperdine is 3-0 and the rest of the field likely in the rear view mirror

• The Toreros are yet to play Washington State (3-2 WCC, April 18) while the Waves still have Pacific (0-5 WCC) and Saint Mary's (1-4) at hand to conclude the regular season next weekend

AN IMMACULATE START TO CONFERENCE PLAY

• For a sixth straight season, the Toreros are off to a perfect 4-0 start to the conference season 

• This season, the Toreros have been immaculate on their way to the unblemished record: USD has won all four doubles points and all 19 singles points the Toreros have played in (USD forfeited No. 6 singles against Portland due to a lack of healthy players)

TOREROS SWEEP THE WCC WEEKLY AWARDS

• The West Coast Conference announced on Tuesday, April 10 that seniors Kailey Evans (doubles) and Claudia de las Heras (singles & doubles) had swept the conference's weekly awards

• Together at No. 1 doubles, the pair dropped just one game in two matches on a nearly perfect weekend .. In Sunday's 7-0 sweep of Pacific, the 35th-ranked pair kicked off the action by dropping just three points of 27 in a 6-0 win at the top spot ... The tandem also won 6-1 on Saturday to start USD's 4-0 sweep of Saint Mary's

• De las Heras won both her matches at No. 1 singles on the road weekend in straight sets ... In Saturday's 4-0 sweep at Saint Mary's, de las Heras was the first court off, winning 6-3, 6-0. In Sunday's 7-0 road sweep of Pacific, de las Heras clinched the victory with a 6-1, 6-4 win on main court. No. 56 USD now has won 19 unanswered singles points to start conference play.

SENIOR DAY 

• Saturday is the Toreros final home match of the regular season, thus their Senior Day; USD Women's Tennis will honor two seniors – their No. 1 and No. 2 – Kailey Evans and Claudia de las Heras (for more on Evans and de las Heras' achievements, see PLAYER NOTES)

HISTORY VS. THE WAVES

• The Toreros are 5-64 all-time against the Waves, the last USD win coming in a neutral site WCC Tournament final at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego on April 28, 2012, (L15)

• The 31-time WCC Champion Waves hold the edge over the Toreros who have finished as runners-up 21 times, including the last three seasons

PROGRAM NOTES

QUICK FACTS

• DI results first recorded in 1988

• Best Final ITA Team Ranking: #14

• Best ITA Team Ranking: #12

• 2024 Final Team Ranking: #21 (2nd Round NCAAs)

• Total Team NCAA Appearances: 16 Total

• Best Team Finish: 2nd Round (7 times)

• Prior Singles Appearances: 27

• Best Singles Finish: NCAA Champion, Zuzana Lesenarova (1999)

• Total Doubles Appearances: 11

• Best Doubles Finish: Runner-up, Lesenarova & Katarina Valkyova (1999)

DI ALL-AMERICANS (6 players, 14+ times)

• Solymar Colling: 2019

• Zuzana Lesenarova: 1997, '98, '99 x2, '00

• Katarina Valkyova: 1999, 2000

• Julie McKeon: 1992, '93, '94

• Laura Richards: 1992, 1993

• Tonya Fuller: 1991

PLAYER NOTES

CLAUDIA de las HERAS - (Day-Las Hair-oss) 

Sr. | 5-4 | Barcelona, Spain | IPSI

This Season - Singles: 8-4 (W3); Doubles: 5-6 (4-3 w/ Evans)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 2024 All-WCC First Team

• 2024 ITA Southwest Region Most Improved Player

• 2023 All-WCC Second Team

• WCC Singles Player of the Week - March 28, 2023

• WCC Doubles Player of the Week (w/Jordyn McBride) - April 25, 2023 & Jan. 24, 2023

JUNIOR (2023-24)

• Went 20-10 in singles, seeing her ITA ranking improve from No. 97 to a career-high No. 50

• Notched a win over California's 23rd-ranked Moeller on March 16

• In the fall, won three matches respectively en route to the USTA Intercollegiate Championships and the ITA Southwest Regionals quarterfinal

SOPHOMORE (2022-23)

• Went 16-16 in singles play, in addition to going 5-2 during WCC action.

• Went 17-11 in doubles action, including going 12-6 during dual matches and 5-1 in the No. 3 playing position. Also went 4-1 during WCC play.

• Helped USD get the doubles point and also secured a singles point in the team's NCAA Tournament 4-1 victory against UC Berkeley. In singles, De Las Heras won her match 6-3, 6-1 to begin the singles action.

FRESHMAN (2021-22)

• Named ITA Scholar-Athlete

• Registered an overall singles record of 22-10 (second most wins on team), including 5-1 in WCC play

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Toni de las Heras and Elisabet Armenteras

• Was recruited as the No. 1 junior in Spain as Spain National Junior Champion in 2019

• Favorite tennis memories are clinching a 4-3 win over USC and beating No. 2 Texas A&M

• Speaks four languages

KAILEY EVANS

RS-Sr. | 5-4 | Ennis, Texas | iUniversity Prep | Texas Tech

This Season - Singles: 5-2 (L1); Doubles: 4-3 (4-3 w/ de las Heras)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 2024 NCAA Singles Championships Qualifier (Rd. 32)

• 2023 NCAA Doubles Championships Qualifier (Rd. 64)

REDSHIRT SENIOR (Fall 2024)

• Reached the second round of the NCAA Singles Championships in her home state of Texas, falling to the eventual national champion

• In the fall, made a run to the ITA Southwest Regional semifinal with four wins, three in straight sets

• Also went all the way from qualifiers to the round of 16 a the ITA All-American Championships, notching wins over ITA No. 31, No. 600 and three other top-100 opponents

SENIOR (2023-24)

• Went 12-1 in singles play, including 12 straight, before a season-ending injury in April; used redshirt option

• Paired with Kristina Nordikyan to take down the nation's No. 29 duo in a win at No. 16 USC on Feb. 3

• Went 10-5 overall in doubles play

JUNIOR (2022-23)

• Reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Championship with Elizabeth Goldsmith, becoming the first pair to reach the round of 16 in 22 years ... Evans and Goldsmith defeated the team from Auburn 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) before losing to No. 2 Michigan

• Top wins included over former NCAA champ Fangran Tian (UCLA) and top-20 player Janice Tjen (Pepperdine)

• In singles play, Evans went 19-9 leading USD, including 11-4 in dual matches ... Also went 4-1 during WCC action ... Went a combined 6-0 from the No. 4 and 6 playing positions

• Went 18-13 in doubles action as well as 4-1 during WCC play

• Against nationally ranked opponents, Evans was 4-4

SOPHOMORE (2021-22) [at Texas Tech]

• Went 7-11 overall in singles play, mainly from No. 4 and No. 5 spot and as team captain

• Ranked No. 89 in singles by ITA in January

• Led Texas Tech with 15 total doubles wins (15-10), including a 10-8 mark from the No. 1 position

• Earned doubles wins over No. 14 and No. 42 in national rankings

FRESHMAN (2020-21) [at Texas Tech]

• Competed in two fall tournaments for the Lady Raiders before a season-ending injury

• Posted a 3-2 overall record in singles and picked up two doubles wins

• Went 1-1 in singles at the OU Invitational in Norman, Okla., picking up her first collegiate win in a 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6 win over Kelly Keller of Arkansas

• Earned her first ranked win at the Oklahoma State Fall Tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of No. 81 Sonia Smagina of Kansas

• Went 2-1 in singles at the OSU Fall Tournament, also defeating Kansas State's Anna Turco in straight sets

• Teamed up with Nell Miller for her first career doubles win in a 6-3 win over Martina Zerulo and Tatum Rice at the OU Invitational

• With teammate Olivia Peet, shut out Kansas's Malkia Ngounoue and Julia Deming, 6-0 at the OSU Fall Tournament.

HIGH SCHOOL

• A native of Ennis, Texas, Evans was ranked as high as No. 13 nationally in the class of 2020 by TennisRecruiting.net

• Was ranked as one of the top players in the state of Texas, and ranked sixth in the Gulf region

• Racked up three wins over fellow blue chip recruits and was a combined 5-1 against four and five star players

• Boasted a Universal Tennis Rating of 11, and has reached as high as No. 3 in the TennisRPI

• Was one of the top junior players in the world, ranking No. 178 in the world by the ITF at the time of her signing and holding a career high ranking of No. 94

• Holds three junior singles titles in her career, including two in 2019—at the J3 Santo Domingo and the J4 San Jose

• Won her first junior title at the Costa Rica Bowl in 2018

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Bill and Susie Evans, has a sister, Karsyn

• Chose USD because of "how kind and caring Nadia [Abdala] was to me and how much she believed in me."

• Favorite cuisine is Vietnamese, favorite musical artist is Gracie Abrams

GABBY GREGG 

Fr. | 5-2 | Sydney, Australia | POCS

This Season - Singles: 8-6 (W3); Doubles: 9-8 (3-1 w/ Read)

PERSONAL

• Winner of a Junior ITF, was a top-10 Australian female junior, NSW Junior Female Athlete of the Year nominee, reached a career-high 

• World Junior ITF ranking of 191

• Excelled in the classroom as well, earning a PDHPE High Distinction Award at POCS in Sydney

• Daughter of Tas Gregg and Christine Armao

• Played the violin growing up

BRIONNA NGUYEN - (WIN) 

Jr. | 5-3 | Yorba Linda, Calif. | Yorba Linda | UC Riverside

This Season - Singles: 1-3 (W1); Doubles: 2-3 (2-2 w/ Nordikyan)

SOPHOMORE (2023-24) [at UC Riverside]

• Captained and played No. 1 singles for the Highlanders throughout the entirety of the season

• Notched singles wins against Idaho, UTRGV and UC San Diego

FRESHMAN (2022-23) [at UC Riverside]

• 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 singles win against Portland State to clinch 4-3 match win (2/6)

• 6-2, 6-1 singles win (2/15)

• Won collegiate doubles debut with Maya Youssef (1/25)

• 6-3 doubles win with Niki Shahbazi (2/15)

HIGH SCHOOL

• Four-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting Network out of Yorba Linda High School

• Named to Tennis Recruiting Network's September 2019 Hot-100 list

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Tam Nguyen and Chi Ho-Nguyen, has a brother, Tyler

• "I chose USD because of the family culture the coaches and girls have worked to cultivate. I felt at home on my visit and fell in-love with the school."

• Shares the same birthday as Rafael Nadal

• Favoirte food is Sushi

KRISTINA NORDIKYAN - (Nor-Deek-ian) 

So. | 5-3 | Panorama City, Calif. | California Connections Academy

This Season - Singles: 6-10 (W4); Doubles: 8-6 (2-0 w/ Anni Puls)

SOPHOMORE (Fall 2024)

• Went 11-4 in singles play in the fall, reaching multiple event quarterfinals

FRESHMAN (2023-24)

• Went 10-9 in doubles play, reaching a career-high doubles ranking of No. 72 with Kailey Evans

• Notched a tiebreak singles win at No. 6 singles in a team win over Hawaii (Feb. 16)

HIGH SCHOOL

• Attended California Connections Academy, and was on the honor roll her entire high school tenure

• Was a five-star recruit according to the Tennis Recruiting Network

• Checked in junior rankings at No. 43 in the nation and No. 9 in the state of California

• Helped team to a CIF Championship for the first time in school history as a freshman

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Lilit Gorginyan, born in Hollywood

• Favorite tennis memory is coming back from down 2-5 to clinch a pivotal doubles point in a 4-3 win over No. 16 USC

• "I chose USD because it satisfied my top priorities with the amazing coaching staff, the incredible team culture, and the beautiful location."

• Favorite foods are pesto pasta and Hot Cheetos

ANNI PULS - (ON-knee Pools) 

Fr. | 5-10 | Bonn, Germany | Privatgymansium Schwetzingen

This Season - Singles: 5-8 (W2); Doubles: 5-4 (2-0 w/ Nordikyan)

PERSONAL

• Achieved a World ITF Junior Ranking of No. 107

• Won a W15 professional doubles title prior to coming to USD

• Favorite food is anything asian, favorite band is Green Day

HANNAH READ 

Fr. | 5-7 | St. Albans, England | Queenswood School

This Season - Singles: 9-5 (W5); Doubles: 7-5 (3-1w/ Gregg)

FRESHMAN (Fall 2024)

• Went 10-5 in singles play in the fall, including nine of her first 10 as a Torero

• Entered the ITA rankings for the first time in her young career at No. 105 prior to the spring

PERSONAL

• Reached an ITF World Juniors ranking of No. 86

• Born in Cambridge to Jeremy and Aneta Read, has a sister, Gabby

• Favorite musical artist is Taylor Swift, enjoys going to the beach with friends