Jan. 16, 2014
SAN DIEGO - The No. 49 San Diego State men's tennis team begins its 2014 dual season with a doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 18, as the Aztecs play host to Mountain West foe Nevada at 10 a.m. PT, and UC Riverside at 3 p.m. PT. Both matches will be held at Aztec Tennis Center and admission is free.
SDSU defeated both Nevada and UC Riverside a season ago. The Aztecs topped the Wolf Pack, 4-3, in their final regular-season dual match in 2013, and opened the dual season with a victory over the Highlanders, 7-0, in the second match of a doubleheader.
Junior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) is ranked No. 69 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and is also No. 12 in the Southwest Region. In addition, senior Juan Florez (Bogota, Colombia) is ranked 19th in the Southwest Region, while the doubles team of Bertsch and senior Hunter Nicholas (Park City, Utah) is ranked No. 3 in the region.
Bertsch was an all-MW first-team selection in singles play in 2013, while the Aztecs' No. 1 doubles team of Bertsch and Nicholas was also a first-team all-MW selection.
San Diego State finished the 2013 dual season with an 18-8 overall record, including a perfect 6-0 mark in conference play, en route to winning the MW regular season championship outright. In the process, the Aztecs were ranked as high as No. 37 in the nation, while head coach Gene Carswell was named MW Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career.
Nevada finished 9-13 overall last dual season, including 1-6 in MW play. However, the Wolf Pack returns all six starters from last season's singles rotation, including seniors Victor Ouvrard and Quentin Mege. Ouvrard is ranked No. 7 in the Mouintain Region singles rankings.
UC Riverside went 3-21 in dual play in 2013, but returns five letter winners from a year ago.