April 30, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State earned a spot in the 2005 NCAA Tournament with its 4-2 victory over Brigham Young in the championship match at the Mountain West Conference Tennis Championships Saturday afternoon at Barnes Tennis Center. With the Aztecs' 13th consecutive win, SDSU (17-5) claims its third MWC conference tournament crown in four years.
The Aztecs took a 1-0 lead when they posted victories at Nos. 1 and 2 to clinch the point. The SDSU top doubles team of Benedikt Stronk and Armando Carrascosa used an 8-5 performance to defeat Nima Roshan and Jose Lechuga. Following the win a the top spot, Daniel Jung and Dontia Haynes battled from behind to post an 8-5 win over Dominik Kaufhold and James Ludlow to secure the point.
"I am very proud of the way Daniel Jung and Dontia Haynes fought back after being down early. For them to clinch the doubles point was huge for our team," head coach Gene Carswell said.
Similar to Friday's UNLV match, singles play was close on all six courts.
First off the court was BYU's Christian Hand, who made quick work of Haynes at No. 5, defeating him in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. The Aztecs reclaimed the lead when Jung posted his 11th straight victory, a 6-3, 6-3, win over Jonathan Sanchez at No. 6.
The SDSU lead was short lived as Brigham Young's Shane LaPorte snapped Chris Groh's nine-match winning streak with his 6-4, 6-4, effort to tie the match a 2-2. Then with three matches still in progress, Markus Dickhardt broke the tie with his 7-6(5), 7-5, victory at No. 2 over BYU's Ludlow.
With the Aztecs needing only one point to take the conference title, Stronk was in the middle of the three-set battle with Roshan at No. 1 and Carrascosa was fighting out of a 5-2, second set deficit to Jeff Das at No. 3.
At stadium court, Stronk had lost the first set, 6-7(1), but came back to win the second, 6-3. On court nine, as Carrascosa was in the process of tying the second set at 6-6, Stronk finished off Roshan, cruising to a 6-0, third set win, giving the Aztecs the conference's automatic bid to the postseason.
"I'm very proud of the guys. It was another team effort," Carswell said. "We had our backs against the wall versus a tough opponent in BYU and we fought back. I am proud that the guys got it done."
San Diego State will find out its first round opponent this Wednesday on the NCAA selection show being broadcast on ESPNews at 1 p.m.
#41 San Diego State 4, #57 Brigham Young 2
Doubles
1. Stronk/Carrascosa (SDSU) def. Roshan/Lechuga (BYU), 8-5
2. Haynes/Jung (SDSU) def. Kaufhold/Ludlow (BYU), 8-5
3. Hand/LaPorte (BYU) vs. Romero/Dickhardt (SDSU), 7-6, DNF
San Diego State wins doubles point
Singles
1. #81 Benedikt Stronk (SDSU) def. Nima Roshan (BYU), 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-0
2. #125 Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) def. James Ludlow (BYU), 7-6(5), 7-5
3. Jeff Das (BYU) vs. #119 Armando Carrascosa (SDSU), 3-6, 6-6, DNF
4. Shane LaPorte (BYU) def. Chris Groh (SDSU), 6-4, 6-4
5. Christian Hand (BYU) def. Dontia Haynes (SDSU), 6-1, 6-4
6. Daniel Jung (SDSU) def. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU), 6-3, 6-3