USF's men's tennis team enters this week's West Coast Conference Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego as the tournament's No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Loyola Marymount in a quarterfinal match on Thursday beginning at 3:00 p.m.
 
Should USF win its quarterfinal match against the Lions, the Dons will likely face No. 2 Pepperdine in one semifinal at 1:00 p.m. on Friday if the Waves get past their quarterfinal match against the winner of the match between No. 7 BYU and No. 10 Saint Mary's.
 
San Diego is the tournament's top seed after the 22nd-ranked Toreros went undefeated (9-0) in conference play to improve their overall record to 20-4 on the season. The Toreros will face the winner of the match between No. 8 Santa Clara and No. 9 Gonzaga in quarterfinal play on Thursday. No. 4 Pacific meets No. 5 Portland in the other quarterfinal matchup.
 
The Dons, currently ranked 52nd in the ITA Top-100 poll, finished the regular season with a 13-8 overall record to go along with a 6-3 conference mark. As the No. 3 seed, USF has its highest seeding in the history of the tournament. The Dons had previously been seeded No. 4 on six other occasions, last in 2011.
 
A win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday would advance the Dons into the semifinals for the first time since 2011, when USF knocked off Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara before falling to Pepperdine as the No. 5 seed.
 
Thursday's match marks the fourth consecutive year USF has drawn Loyola Marymount as its opening match. Last season, the Dons upset the No. 5 Lions as the No. 8 seed before falling to Santa Clara, 4-0 in the quarterfinals. Earlier this month, USF claimed a 4-2 regular season victory over Loyola Marymount on April 4 at the Cal Club despite dropping the doubles point. Thomas Takemoto provided the deciding point at No. 5 singles to lift the Dons to the victory.
 
The win was the Dons first of four consecutive conference victories to close the season, helping the team nail down its highest seeding in the history of the tournament.
 
"To finish the season strong like we did was big for us because we are now legitimately thinking about post-season play beyond the WCC Tournament for the first time in modern history," said head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida. "The guys can taste the NCAA's and are preparing for the tough competition that is ahead of us at the WCC Championships this week."
 
The Dons have been strong atop their singles lineup, where stalwarts Bernardo Saraiva, Nils Skajaa and James Tallman have combined to post a 39-13 record in team competition. Saraiva has been particularly impressive with a 16-2 mark.
 
"We've been fortunate to have a competitor like Bernardo on our team for the past four years," said Pires de Almeida. "He brings a certain level of consistency that we usually don't see at this level."