SPOKANE, Wash. – No. 7 San Diego Men's Tennis' 4-1 win on the road Sunday to clinch at least a share of a fourth straight WCC title was one indicative of what has been a season of resilience for the Toreros.
 
After going down to an early deficit dropping two of three in the doubles point, USD (21-3, 6-0 WCC) rebounded to win all six first sets in singles and used four straight-set wins to quickly put things to rest. The Toreros claim not only their fourth straight WCC Championship, but seventh in the last eight years, 10th in the last 12 years and 13^th overall in program history.
 
"I'm proud of how these guys handled adversity this weekend, and all season for that matter," head coach Ryan Keckley said, who's now won eight regular season conference titles in nine full seasons as head coach of the program. "Today was a battle of the conditions and the mind. We excelled in both areas."
 
The job's not done in the team's eyes, however. San Diego will travel up to No. 23 Pepperdine for the regular season finale on Saturday, April 18, where a win would clinch the outright title and the one seed in the WCC Tournament, being played back in America's Finest City from April 24-26. The National No. 7 Toreros are also in a race to host up to three rounds in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
 
"I continue to have so much faith and trust in this team and their ability to overcome challenging moments that tennis constantly tests you with," said Keckley.
 
After the nation's third ranked doubles pairing of Oliver Tarvet and Stian Klaassen captured a 6-2 win on main court, the Bulldogs cancelled it out with their own 6-4 win on court three. That left it to court two, which the hosts dramatically took in a tiebreaker of a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5), to see the Zags go up 1-0.
 
The Toreros, were not moved, however. They kicked off singles play by winning all six first sets. But before all first frames had even closed, Klaassen and Tarvet had already put San Diego on top by way of speedy singles wins. First, Klaassen dominated to a 6-1, 6-1 win on court three, before Tarvet, also ranked No. 3 nationally in singles, too dropped just two games, winning 6-0, 6-2 on court one.
 
It wasn't too much longer after that the experienced Toreros wrapped up the win. First, junior Neo Niedner posted a cool 6-3, 6-1 win on court four. Then, it was none other than grad Blake Kasday – the program's captain and longest tenured player – who stepped up and clinched his fourth ring with the team by way of a 6-3, 6-2 win on court six. It's a career-best third-straight win in straight sets for Kasday.
 
Results
No. 7 San Diego 4, Gonzaga 1
Doubles
1. #3 Oliver Tarvet/Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Giovanni Branchetti/Kai-Luca Ampaw (GU) 6-2
2. Jay Fairclough/Nicholas Reeves (GU) def. Savriyan Danilov/Adrien Berrut (USD) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Gus Krauel/Diego Herrera (GU) def. Nikhil Niranjan/Blake Kasday (USD) 6-4
 
Singles
1. #3 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. Giovanni Branchetti (GU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Kai-Luca Ampaw (GU) vs. #83 Savriyan Danilov (USD) 4-6, 1-3, unfinished
3. Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Nicholas Reeves (GU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Neo Niedner (USD) def. Tom Dunlop (GU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Jay Fairclough (GU) vs. Adrien Berrut (USD) 6-7 (6-8), 0-1, unfinished
6. Blake Kasday (USD) def. Oscar Rashed (GU) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,4,6)