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Torero Faithful,

Well folks, its March and that means two things.  First, March Madness is just around the corner!  Being from Indiana, this is a pretty important time of the year for us Hoosiers.  Second, we are midway through our season with the 7th annual San Diego Spring Break tournament ahead of us.  With a 6-4 record, we look to this weekend as an amazing opportunity to collect a few wins in our backyard. 

The field for the tournament is extremely strong this time around.  We will host two top 30 teams (Oregon and Tulane) along with Iowa, Harvard, Drake, SDSU and Arizona.  We will kick off the tournament at 2:00pm against Drake on Thursday.  The draw will be posted on either Tuesday or Wednesday on usdtoreros.com, so be on the look out.  Win or lose, we will play again on Friday at 2:00pm at USD.  The Saturday time will depend on how the first two matches go for your Toreros.  If you are around campus, come on out and support the boys in blue!  

Breaking Records:

Congrats to Filip Vittek for breaking the all-time doubles win record previously held by Clarke Spinosa.  With plenty of matches left, Filly's win total is now at 78.  Filly also just had a piece written about him in the latest USD magazine.  To check out the 2017 spring article, please CLICK HERE! 

San Diego In the Rankings:

USD Team Ranking: #62

USD Singles Rankings: #55 Filip Vittek

Cal Berkeley Recap:

We hosted #7 Cal Berkeley on our campus on March 2nd at 12:00pm.  We had an amazing crowd out for a mid-week match up, and our boys competed extremely well.  Filly Vittek and Josh Page kicked off the days activity with a win against the #54 team in the country.  Unfortunately, we could not secure a win on the other two spots and lost the doubles point. 

We went into singles a little tight about the opportunity in front of us, but battled through some initial nerves and fought back well as a team.  Ultimately, we took three of the six matches to three sets but fell to the Bears 6-1.  It was a well contested match that left us confident in our ability to play with the nations best.   

Spring Break in Seattle:

For spring break this year, we decided to mix it up a bit.  Being blessed with warm weather year round in California, we decided to chase after some rain and snow in Washington state.  It is easy to forget what the rest of the country goes through in the months of January and February.  It was a good opportunity for these boys to remember not to take this time and this city for granted.  

Arriving in Seattle, it was exactly how we pictured it rainy, cold and around 40 degrees.  In between training sessions, we made the most of our trip by exploring the city, Pike Place (one of the oldest continuously operating farmers markets in the U.S.) and the Space Needle (constructed for the 1962 Worlds Fair held in Seattle).  

Arriving on a Tuesday, we had five indoor hits before taking on the Huskies of Washington on Thursday night at 4:00pm.  The place was packed, and the crowd was fantastic.  We played an extremely competitive doubles point and ended up taking court 1 and court 3.  Filip Vittek and Josh Page got off to a great start and cruised to a 6-2 victory.  After Joel and Guilherme dropped their set, Guus Koevermans and Alex Araouzos clinched the point with all eyes on them.  At 5-5 in the set, Guus and Alex broke and eventually held to earn the point.  I was extremely proud of Alex for owning the moment and serving it out for his team!

Singles was a bit of a different story.  Unfortunately, we never felt comfortable on the indoor surface.  We had plenty of opportunities to start off the match but gave them too much confidence and respect early on.  We were unable to play aggressive enough in the big moments which ultimately decided the match.  Give all the credit to Washington, as they played a great two and a half hours of tennis.

Quote of the Month - "Language Barriers"

When the team was huddled around after a practice session, we started talking about the days work.  I had mentioned to the group that we cant give away quadruple free points within the same game.  We need to be a tougher unit individually in order to keep progressing the right direction as a team.  Guus looked at me and said, "Coach, I gave away four free points, not quadruple."  Well keep working on that serve and your vocabulary in our individual practices, Guus!

Friends of Torero Tennis

I would like to personally thank those of you who have already donated to this years program.  Your gifts help Torero Tennis reach new heights.  It is humbling for me to witness the generosity in your hearts to support the incredibly gifted young men in our program.  Each one deserves the very best experience.  The university along with the coaching staff continue to work hard to provide them with unique opportunities each day while at USD.

Friends of Torero Tennis is the group that Rich and I have created to raise funds to support our student athletes.  As our young men train and compete at a top level day in and day out, it is the coaching staffs responsibility to ensure that they have the proper resources to achieve the success on the court for which they work so hard.

If you are interested in donating to USD Mens Tennis, please CLICK HERE to make a gift online or send a check to 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 (make payable to University of San Diego). Thanks again to those who have already contributed and remain so loyal to Friends of Torero Tennis.

As Always, Go Toreros!

~ Ryan

Twitter: USDmtennis

Instagram: usd_tennis

Facebook: Ryan Keckley

www.usdtoreros.com


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