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This week, USF Athletics will be featuring five top moments from the 2016-17 season that made indelible marks on their respective programs, and the fifth moment in the countdown belongs to the Dons' men's tennis team, who upended Pepperdine in April 8's senior day match.

The victory over the Waves was USF's first in program history.

"Big for our team was the psychological hurdle of beating a school we have not defeated in 30 plus years in the sport of tennis," noted USF director of tennis Peter Bartlett. "We've had some really great and close battles against Pepperdine over the years but they had come out on top in all those matches as they had been a national powerhouse for many seasons.

"Although that may not have been the case this past season, you could still see the excitement on our players' faces when they knew they had achieve something that many other teams had not been able to do. It showed the team they could beat any team in the conference if they believed they could do it. It was a great accomplishment for our program and reinforces our belief that we are a top tier team in the WCC conference."

The Dons nabbed the doubles point, followed by singles victories from No. 3 Ryan Marker and No. 2 Johan Joenhagen. Oliver Poysti clinched the win with a hard-fought three-setter from the No. 4 position to round out the 4-2 match score over the eventual WCC runners-up from Pepperdine.

"Because we still have many of the same players, it will allow next year's team to draw from this victory to help them compete with confidence and push our level even further. We received some great messages from alumni who heard the news and encouraged us to keep breaking through these competitive barriers."

The Dons are slated to open their fall schedule Sept. 2-4 at the San Francisco City Open, and USF hosts its premier fall event – the Battle in the Bay Classic – Sept. 22-24.