July 5, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The 2005 campaign for the San Diego State men's tennis team was one of ups and downs. The beginning of the season was definitely both up and down while the stretch run turned out to be something truly magical.
The year began with the Aztecs splitting their first six matches. After a season opening, loss at No. 8 Southern California, SDSU rebounded with a pair of dominating 7-0 wins over UC Riverside and Northern Arizona.
Soon thereafter, the Aztecs traveled to then-No. 2 and eventual national champion UCLA and was shutout, 7-0. The loss evened SDSU's record at 2-2, but the biggest loss occurred when sophomore Christian Groh went down with a high ankle sprain. After undergoing tests, the sophomore was forced to sit out six matches.
After defeating Pacific, 4-3, at Balboa Tennis Club and enduring a rainout against Fresno State, the Aztecs faced 21st-ranked Washington at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club. The Huskies won the doubles point to take an early lead, but SDSU would not go down without a fight, taking a brief 3-2 lead. Washington ended up tying the match at 3-3, with the deciding contest coming at No. 2 singles. Senior Armando Carrascosa dropped the first set 6-7, only to win the second 7-6, forcing a third set. Unfortunately, the senior caught a few bad breaks and could not recover, losing the third set, 6-0.
Despite the disappointing loss, junior Benedikt Stronk and sophomore Markus Dickhardt recorded upset victories. Stronk defeated No. 32 Alex Vlaski, 7-6(5), 7-6(9), at No. 1, while Dickhardt beat 37th-ranked Christoph Palmanshofer, 7-6(4), 7-6(3), at the third spot. Thanks to his win at the top position, Stronk was named the Mountain West Conference's first men's tennis player of the week for the 2005 season.
The next day at Fairbanks Ranch, SDSU defeated Yale, 5-2, before departing for Montgomery, Ala., to participate in the Blue/Gray National Tennis Classic. It was there that the Aztecs turned their season around, but it would not come without a few lumps.
In its first two matches against No. 27 Rice and 63rd-ranked Brown, SDSU could not get any production out of its doubles teams. As a result, the Aztecs fell to both Rice and Brown, 4-2. But the aforementioned turning point came in the final match of the tournament versus No. 68 William & Mary. SDSU claimed the doubles point and used an upset victory over 59th-ranked Jeff Kader by Stronk and two singles wins by Dickhardt and senior Daniel Jung to post a 4-0 win.
After a week off, the Aztecs returned to the court and played their first-ever match at SDSU Tennis Stadium against 36th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth. Rain delayed the match for over two hours and when the rain let up, the two schools decided to skip doubles play and go straight into singles in an effort to get the match in.
The Rams took a 2-0 lead right off the bat and it soon turned into a 3-1 lead after Jung won in three sets and Dickhardt suffered a three-set defeat. Later, Stronk pulled the Aztecs to within a point when he upset 13th-ranked Arnaud Lecloerec, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). Then in his first match since his ankle injury, Groh battled from a first set loss to win the second set and push the match to a final stanza. Unfortunately, the rains came again and both teams agreed to halt the match with no declared winner.
With their momentum temporarily halted, the Aztecs traveled north to Santa Barbara, Calif., to face No. 23 Harvard and UC Santa Barbara. It was there that SDSU showed no signs of slowing down. Against the Crimson, the Aztecs swept doubles play to catapult themselves to a 5-2 win and a day later, defeated the Gauchos by the same score for their third consecutive victory entering conference play.
Following a successful road trip, SDSU had a five-match homestand on tap that featured four nationally ranked opponents, three of which were conference foes.
In the first of three straight conference matches, the Aztecs took on 57th-ranked Utah and experienced no problems, defeating the Utes, 6-1. The following match proved to be a bit tougher as No. 58 Brigham Young opposed SDSU.
The Aztecs dropped the doubles point, but came back to take a 2-1 lead. Carrascosa lost his singles match to allow the Cougars to even up the score at two, but Stronk outlasted Nima Roshan, 7-6(2), 6-4, to bring SDSU to within a point of victory. Then at No. 5 senior Dontia Haynes, clutched up and gave the home team a 4-3 win, its fifth straight, with his three set triumph over Jonathan Sanchez.
Next up on the slate for the conference leaders was 40th-ranked UNLV. After winning the doubles point, the bottom of the singles lineup led the way for the Aztecs from the outset. Jung and Groh tallied wins at Nos. 6 and 4, respectively, to give SDSU a two-point cushion. Moments later, Stronk lost at the top position and Haynes once again clinched the victory for the Aztecs. Putting the finishing touches on a 5-2 win, Carrascosa fought back to post a, 3-6, 6-3, 10-4, victory.
Looking to prevent SDSU from extending its winning streak to seven was 26th-ranked and cross-town rival San Diego. Again the Aztecs won the doubles point and recorded singles victories at Nos. 2-3 and 5-6 to reclaim the city championship.
Closing out the homestand was a match with unranked Hawaii and former SDSU head coach John Nelson. The Aztecs could have easily looked past the Warriors, but instead took care of business and posted their third 7-0 win of the season.
One week later, SDSU took its eight-match winning streak to Colorado in a contest with Denver. Once again, the Aztecs started on the right foot by taking the doubles point. Then in a blink of an eye, Groh, Jung and Haynes won successive singles matches to put the match away before the Pioneers dented the scoreboard. SDSU wound up winning its ninth straight, defeating Denver, 5-2, heading into a showdown with New Mexico in Colorado Springs, Colo.
For the fourth consecutive match, the Aztecs put early pressure on the Lobos by winning the doubles point thanks to wins at Nos. 2-3. Then as singles play got underway, Stronk, Dickhardt and Jung were the first ones off the court to secure the victory and run SDSU's streak to 10. The Aztecs would add another point to win by the final score of 5-2, with a chance to win the conference title outright the following day at Air Force.
Win is what SDSU did, notching a 5-2 victory over the Falcons. The Aztecs earned the doubles point and tallied wins at Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6 to extend their winning streak to 11 and finish the conference season with a 5-0 record. The undefeated league record was the first time since 2001 that an Aztec team had accomplished the feat.
More important than the winning streak and the unblemished conference mark was the fact that SDSU earned a first round bye at the upcoming MWC championship at Barnes Tennis Center.
In the semifinal of the conference tournament, the top-seeded Aztecs drew No. 4 seed and 55th-ranked UNLV.
The match began as if it would be a rout. SDSU claimed the doubles point and quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Jung posted his 10th straight win and Groh finished off David Campbell in three sets.
But the Rebels, potentially the most dangerous team in the tournament, slowly climbed their way back, tying the match at 3-3, leaving the match at No. 2 between 125th-ranked Dickhardt and No. 98 Joel Kielbowicz to decide the outcome.
Dickhardt lost the first set 4-6, but came back and battled to win the second 6-4, forcing a deciding set. In the third, Dickhardt broke his opponent early and cruised to a 6-2 win securing SDSU a spot in the championship final for the fourth straight season and fifth time in six years.
In the conference final, No. 2 seed and 57th-ranked Brigham Young gave everything the Aztecs could handle.
Carrascosa and Stronk were first off the court with their 8-5 doubles win at No. 1. Then after trailing early, Jung and Haynes fought back to notch an 8-5 victory to give SDSU the doubles point.
Singles play close throughout, as Haynes was the first one to go down, losing to Christian Hand, 6-1, 6-4. However, after Jung tallied his 11th straight win, a 6-3, 6-3, victory over Jonathan Sanchez, the Aztecs reassumed the lead.
Just as quickly as SDSU retook the lead, BYU snatched it back. Cougar Shane LaPorte snapped Groh's nine-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-4, effort at No. 4.
Then with three matches down and three still in progress, Dickhardt broke the tie, ending his 7-6(5), 7-5, marathon with James Ludlow at No. 2.
At stadium court, Stronk had lost the first set to Nima Roshan, 6-7(1), but came back to win the second, 6-3. At No. 3, Carrascosa was in the process of tying the second set at 6-6 after losing the first by a score of 3-6. It was at that point when Stronk finished off Roshan, cruising to a 6-0, third set win, giving the Aztecs the conference's automatic bid to the postseason.
The win marked the Aztecs' 13th consecutive victory and its third MWC conference tournament crown in four years. The 13 wins were the most in over 10 seasons.
With the conference tournament championship in their pocket, the Aztecs learned that they would be traveling to Los Angeles for a first round match up with California.
After two weeks of preparation, No. 35 SDSU arrived at Los Angeles Tennis Center looking to upset the 24th-ranked Golden Bears.
From the start, the Aztecs came out flat, losing at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, while leaving Stronk and Carrascosa stranded despite leading No. 15 Patrick Briaud/Conor Niland, 7-5.
What happened to be a 1-0 deficit soon turned into a 3-0 hole as Stronk and Dickhardt, both fell to California's two nationally ranked singles players at Nos. 1 and 2. Then Jung continued his outstanding play and finally got the Aztecs on the scoreboard beating Ken Nakahara, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 6.
Then with Carrascosa and Haynes trying to put away each of their respective opponents, Groh dropped a 6-3, 6-4, decision to Daniel Sebescen, ending SDSU's historic season.
For their accomplishments during the season, Carrascosa, Dickhardt and Stronk were all-MWC singles selections, while Haynes and Jung earned all-conference doubles honors.
For his job on the sidelines, head coach Gene Carswell was honored with the conference coach of the year award in just his second year at the helm.
In total, four Aztecs were named conference players of the week. Stronk was a two-time winner (Jan. 26 and March 9), while Carrascosa (March 30), Haynes (April 7) and Dickhardt (April 20) each won the award once.
The Aztecs finished the year with an ITA ranking of No. 41 and a record of 17-6 overall and 5-0 in MWC play.