USD Weekly Update | 2-12-18
Women’s Tennis
USD women’s tennis faced off against San Diego State University on Sunday and came away with a 4-2 victory versus its crosstown rival. After falling behind in doubles play, the Toreros rallied in singles play. USD won two singles matches before SDSU won its first singles match, forcing things to come down to the #1 singles match.
In a tough three set battle, USD’s Nicole Anderson defeated SDSU’s Jana Buth 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. This victory was enough to seal the win for the Toreros who got their second victory of he season and now stand at 2-4. The Toreros are back in action at home next Sunday at 10:00 am for a match-up with Cal Poly.
Men’s Tennis
Men’s tennis defeated UC Santa Barbara 4-3 on Sunday. After UCSB rallied to tie the score at three, Alexandros Araouzos won the clinching match for the Toreros 6-7, 6-4, 6-2. This was the second time this year Araouzos has come up big for the Toreros as he won the clinching match earlier this year against #10 TCU.
USD took the lead after the doubles matches and won its first singles match before UCSB won three straight matches to tie the scoring up at three. Just when things started to get sticky for the Toreros, Araouzos stepped up and sealed the win for the Toreros. Men’s tennis returns to action this Saturday for a match-up with Arizona State.
Softball
Softball season got off to a flying start for the Toreros. After dropping their first game of the season, a 3-1 defeat to Campbell, the Toreros have since won 5 in a row capped off by a walk off win Sunday against Cal State Bakersfield. Throughout the entire game both teams missed opportunities to blow the game open. The Toreros left the bases loaded in the first and left at least two runners on base in each of the first five innings while CSU Bakersfield loaded the bases in three of the first four innings yet only managed to score one run.
The Toreros let a 2-1 lead slip away in the top of the 7th as CSU Bakersfield tied the game but in the bottom half of the inning Kailey Hill hit a two run home run to give the Toreros
a 4-2 victory. The game-winning homer capped off an impressive weekend for Hill who hit .529 (9-17), driving in 7 runs and a .941 slugging percentage. The Toreros will hope to continue this hot streak as they travel to Arizona for the Littlewood Classic next weekend.
Women's Basketball
USD women’s basketball went 2-0 last week with wins over Pepperdine and Santa Clara on Thursday and Saturday respectively. Senior guard Aubrey Ward-El lifted the Toreros to victory on Thursday with 23 points including going 6 for 12 from three as the women picked up a 79-53 win in a game they controlled for the entire duration. Pepperdine made a few runs, cutting the deficit to only 11 at half but the Waves had no answer for the hot shooting of Ward-
El.
In a season where Ward-El has been streaky from behind the arc, it was great to see her get her shot and play like the dominate scorer she can be. Maya Hood (11 points) and Madison Pollock (12 points) also scored in double figures for USD and Hood also pulled down 10 rebounds.
The Toreros dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Waves 44 to 31. On Saturday afternoon it was more of the same for USD who got a second straight double-double from Maya Hood (14 points and 12 rebounds) and 14 points from Aubrey Ward-El as the Toreros defeated Santa Clara 51-40. The Toreros held the Broncos to zero points in the first quarter and continued the strong defense throughout the game, however Santa Clara did not go quietly.
After cutting the deficit to 33-30 at the end of the third quarter, the pesky Broncos ultimately bowed out as USD outscored them 18-10 in the final period. With the two wins, USD improved its record to 14-11 with a 7-7 record in WCC play. The Toreros will now go on the road to face Pacific on Thursday and BYU on Saturday.
Men’s Basketball
USD Men’s baskerball went 1-1 over the past week to bring their record to 16-10 overall and 7-7 in WCC play. On Thursday night in Malibu, the Toreros squeaked past Pepperdine 68-66 and lost 70-64 at Santa Clara on Saturday. Thursdays victory was led by an unlikely hero, seldom used sophomore Jose Martinez. After only scoring four points all season, Martinez exploded for 16 points including going 5-8 from three.
The Toreros shot 15 of 34 from three and rallied back from a 10 point deficit with nine minutes to play with a 22-10 run. After Martinez, four other Toreros scored double digit points: Isaiah Pineiro (12 points), Tyler Williams (12 points), Olin Carter III (11 points) and Isaiah Wright (10 points).
Carter III also hit two huge three pointers down the stretch for the Toreros. On Saturday however, the Toreros were not so lucky. After taking an 11 point lead early in the second half, USD went ice cold from the field while Santa Clara caught fire. In the first match-up between these teams, the Toreros shut down Santa Clara’s best player, KJ Feagin, but on Saturday he was not to be denied.
Feagin scored 32 points, 16 in each half, to pace the Broncos and lead them to the upset win. The one bright spot for the Toreros was the performance of Cameron Neubauer. The senior from Berlin scored a season high 18 points including 9 in 90 seconds late in the first half.
The Toreros now come back home for two huge matchups against Pacific on Thursday and BYU on Saturday. USD must win both these games if they want to have any chance to
finishing third in the WCC and draw an easier opening match-up in the WCC tournament.
The Toreros lost to both these teams on the road in January so USD will need to step up its game and play like they did in the two close loses vs Gonzaga and St. Mary’s. If the Toreros play like they did against the Bulldogs and Gaels, they should have no problem picking up two much needed wins.
