The Torero men's tennis team ventured into the state of Utah last week to take on the two most prominent collegiate athletic programs in the state, Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. The USD men's tennis team came into the week ranked 58th in the national ITA poll despite losing four out of their last five matches.
The Toreros looked to turn the tide last Friday against the 35th ranked BYU Cougars, but they were too much for the Toreros to handle. The Cougars dominated USD six to one in overall points, with the only Torero point coming from the 100th ranked player in the nation, sophomore Nikola Bubnic. Bubnic was the only bright spot for the Toreros on a day that was marred with defeat.
"Bubnic has really stepped up. He filled in nicely at the one spot," said junior Nils Schive.Bubnic's stellar play against the Cougars finally became contagious during the Toreros' next match against the Utah Utes.
Saturday afternoon against the Utes proved to be a completely different story during a second consecutive match against a foe from the Mountain West Conference. Although it almost looked like déjà-vu when the Utes stole the doubles point from the Toreros, the USD men prevented the same negative result.
The Toreros bounced back and won five out of the six singles points and would win the first three singles matches before relinquishing defeat. Junior Abdullah Hashem started the run for the Toreros, continuing with junior Casey Powers and Schive before their only singles defeat.
The only defeat from the day would come from Bubnic, an unlikely suspect. Bubnic, one of the leaders for the Toreros, did not play up to par, but was backed up by an all-around team effort.
"The bottom half really stepped up today versus Utah, especially Abdullah," said Schive. "He really fired us up."
Wolmarans then clinched the winning point and freshman Thiabaut Visy padded the Torero victory by ending his five match losing streak.
"Charl clinching the winning point today was huge," said Schive.
The Toreros five to two win against Utah was truly a team effort, which is something the Toreros have been lacking recently. The Toreros were forced to play up to their true potential against Utah because of the lack of production from their two stars, Bubnic and sophomore Dean Jackson, who is out with an injury.
"The win over Utah was big, especially with Dean out," stated Schive.
The USD men look to continue their team efforts for their final time at home this Sunday against Tulane University.
is a member of the 
