Feb. 3, 2012
SAN DIEGO - The No. 74 San Diego State men's tennis team rallied after losing the doubles point to edge No. 47 UC Irvine, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at Anteater Tennis Center. With the win, SDSU improves to 3-0 on the year while UCI drops to 1-4 on the season.
"I was proud of the way our Aztecs fought back after dropping the doubles point," head coach Gene Carswell said. "They played with tremendous pride today."
In doubles play, the duo of Thorsten Bertsch and Derek Siddiqui picked up the lone win for the Aztecs as they defeated Jacob Jung and Mika DeCoster by the score of 8-6.
Despite an early 0-1 deficit, SDSU battled with the Anteaters down the stretch in singles play. Thorsten Bertsch was the first to pick up a victory as he posted a 6-4, 6-0 win against Ryan Cheung at No. 3. Then after UCI wins at No. 1 and 4, Rickey Baylon and Juan Florez each notched identical 6-3, 6-1 wins to move SDSU within a point of the victory.
Derek Siddiqui and Sam Gould would then go into a hard-fought battle to finish out the match. Siddiqui won the first set, 7-5, but Gould came back with a 6-3 second set victory. In the third set, the lead went back and forth before Gould tied it up at 6-6 to force a set tiebreaker. Siddiqui eventually closed it out as Gould's overhand volley went wide giving SDSU the decisive point on Siddiqui's 8-6 tiebreaker win.
Up next for the Aztecs is a trip to Los Angeles on Feb. 9 as they face off against No. 9 UCLA. The match is set for a 2 p.m. PT start at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
No. 74 San Diego State 4, No. 47 UC Irvine 3
Friday, Feb. 3, 2012
Anteater Tennis Stadium
DOUBLES
1. Ryan Cheung/Fabian Matthews (UCI) def. Hunter Nicholas / Rickey Baylon (SDSU), 8-2
2. Sam Gould/Jon Kazarian (UCI) def. Javier Pulgar / Spencer Simon (SDSU), 8-2
3. Thorsten Bertsch / Derek Siddiqui (SDSU) def. Mika DeCoster/Jacob Jung (UCI), 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1. Fabian Matthews (UCI) def. Javier Pulgar (SDSU), 6-2, 6-2
2. Derek Siddiqui (SDSU) def. Sam Gould (UCI), 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)
3. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) def. Ryan Cheung (UCI), 6-4, 6-0
4. Jacob Jung (UCI) def. Hunter Nicholas (SDSU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Rickey Baylon (SDSU) def. Jon Kazarian (UCI), 6-3, 6-1
6. Juan Florez (SDSU) def. Shuhei Shibahara (UCI), 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, 2