April 7, 2011
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's tennis team secured its second straight Mountain West Conference victory on Thursday, defeating Utah handedly 6-1. With the win, SDSU moves to 4-13 on the year and 2-2 in MWC play.
The Aztecs were able to assert their dominance early on in the contest, winning all three doubles matches for a 1-0 lead. The No. 3 SDSU pairing of senior Andre Feliz and freshman Shiva Sangwan started the day off right, taking Utah's freshman pairing of Matt Cowley and Devin Lane, 8-5. Junior Javier Pulgar and senior Tim Schulz van Endert would then follow with an 8-5 victory of their own, defeating the Utes' pair of Garrett LaBarre and Dmytro Mamedov to clinch the doubles point for SDSU. Shortly after, the No. 1 pair of senior Giovanni Vaglietti and freshman Hunter Nicholas wrapped up doubles play with a tight win over Utah's Benito Suriano and Alejandro Medinilla, 8-6.
"I'm proud of the guys," said SDSU head coach Gene Carswell. "Whenever you can get all the doubles matches in one day, that's a special thing."
The Scarlet and Black would carry its success into singles play, claiming a 2-0 lead when Schulz van Endert disposed of Lane on the No. 3 court in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Jose Sierra Short, filling in for freshman Juan Florez, would then follow suit in his match by beating Ben Tasevac.
Later, with the contest-clinching point up for grabs, Nicholas came through with a straight-set victory over Cowley, 6-3, 7-5.
"It felt good," said Nicholas. "We had a couple good days of practice and that helped with confidence coming into today's match."
Following the clinch, Vaglietti would extend the SDSU lead to 5-0 after surviving a tough battle against Mamedov, 7-2, 2-6, 10-5. After Utah was then able to get on the board with a Suriano victory over Pulgar on the No. 2 court, Andre Feliz closed out the day's action in a spirited comeback performance against Medinilla, winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
"I think the guys fought hard all the way through the lineup," said Carswell. "After we won all the doubles matches we knew Utah would come after us, but we weathered the storm and won five of the six matches."
The Aztecs will be back in action at 11 a.m. on Saturday, as they take on MWC foe BYU at the Aztec Tennis Center. Free pizza will be available at the match as a special promotion to students who present a valid Red ID.
San Diego State def. Utah, 6-1
Aztec Tennis Center - San Diego, Calif.
Doubles
1. Vaglietti/Nicholas (SDSU) def. Suriano/Medinilla (UTAH), 8-6
2. Pulgar/Schuz van Endert (SDSU) def. LaBarre/Mamedov (UTAH), 8-5
3. Feliz/Sangwan (SDSU) def. Cowley/Lane (UTAH), 8-5
Singles
1. Giovanni Vaglietti (SDSU) def. Dmytro Mamedov (UTAH), 7-2, 2-6, 10-5
2. Benito Suriano (UTAH) def. Javier Pulgar (SDSU), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
3. Tim Schulz van Endert (SDSU) def. Devin Lane (UTAH) 6-2, 6-2
4. Hunter Nicholas (SDSU) def. Matt Cowley (UTAH), 6-3, 7-5
5. Andre Feliz (SDSU) def. Alejandro Medinilla (UTAH) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Jose Sierra Short (SDSU) def. Ben Tasevac (UTAH), 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3, 2*, 1
Singles: 3, 6, 4*, 1, 2, 5
*Clinching match