Jan. 20, 2007
SAN DIEGO - The 49th-ranked San Diego State men's tennis team opened its 2007 dual-match season with a pair of 5-2 victories over UC Riverside and Concordia on Saturday at Aztec Tennis Center. The sweep puts the Aztecs record at 2-0, while the Highlanders drop to 1-1 and the Eagles fall to 0-1.
In the morning match vs. UCR, SDSU pocketed all three doubles matches to take the 1-0 match advantage. Achim Ceban and Billy Timu used a dominating 8-1 performance at No. 2 and were followed by Michael Beron and Robert Sabo's 8-5 effort at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point. Ninth-ranked Markus Dickhardt and Christian Groh wrapped things up with an 8-6 victory at the top position.
As the contest moved into singles, the Aztecs continued their dominance and posted four consecutive victories to clinch the overall team win.
First off the court was Dickhardt at No. 2, who disposed of Bobby Tam, 6-2, 6-2, and was followed by Groh's 6-1, 7-5 victory over Mark Contreras at No. 1 singles. Later, Beron gave SDSU its first win of 2007 when he defeated Jordan Peana in straight sets at No. 6 and Ceban provided the Aztecs with their fifth point after he beat Jon Calienes in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The afternoon contest against Concordia was nearly a carbon copy of the UC Riverside match as San Diego State went 3-0 in doubles and posted four straight singles victories to clinch the decision before the Eagles could get on the board.
Doubles play featured a new team in Anthony Gomez and Sabo at No. 3, but produced the same result as they got things rolling with an 8-2 triumph over the team of Nguyen and Newell. Following suit was the tandem of Ceban and Timu, who were 8-5 winners, and Groh and Dickhardt at No. 1 (8-3).
In singles, Timu (No. 6), Dickhardt (No. 2), Ceban (No. 4) and Sabo (No. 5) were straight-set winners to go up 5-0, before the Eagles claimed victories at No. 1 and 3 to give the match its final score.
San Diego State returns to the court Jan. 26 when it travels to Marks Tennis Stadium to face 43rd-ranked Southern California.
No. 49 San Diego State 5, UC Riverside 2
Doubles
1. No. 9 Groh/Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Calienes/Contreras (UCR), 8-6
2. Ceban/Timu (SDSU) def. Cartledge/Tadevosian (UCR), 8-1
3. Beron/Sabo (SDSU) def. Peana/Tam (UCR), 8-5
Singles
1. No. 28 Christian Groh (SDSU) def. Mark Contreras (UCR), 6-1, 7-5
2. Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Bobby Tam (UCR), 6-2, 6-2
3. Joe Cartledge (UCR) def. Anthony Gomez (SDSU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4. Achim Ceban (SDSU) def. John Calienes (UCR), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
5. Hakop Tadevosian (UCR) def. Robert Sabo (SDSU), 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
6. Michael Beron (SDSU) def. Jordan Peana (UCR), 6-4, 7-6
Order of finish
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 2, 1, 6, 4, 6, 3
No. 49 San Diego State 5, Concordia 2
Doubles
1. No. 9 Groh/Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Kpulun/Ndlela (CU), 8-3
2. Ceban/Timu (SDSU) def. Villares/Elias (CU), 8-5
3. Gomez/Sabo (SDSU) def. Nguyen/Newell (CU), 8-2
Singles
1. Tim Kpulun (CU) def. No. 28 Christian Groh (SDSU), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Daniel Ndlela (CU), 6-2, 6-3
3. Augusto Elias (CU) def. Anthony Gomez (SDSU), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(2)
4. Achim Ceban (SDSU) def. Cesar Villares (SDSU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Robert Sabo (SDSU) def. Jared Haley (CU), 6-3, 6-2
6. Billy Timu (SDSU) def. Chris Nguyen (CU), 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 6, 2, 4, 5, 1, 3