April 2, 2014
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's tennis team returns home to Aztec Tennis Center to play host to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, April 5, beginning at 11 a.m. PT. Admission to the match is free.
SDSU (8-9, 3-0 MW) is down to its final four dual matches of the regular season before the Mountain West Championships begin on April 24 in Fresno, Calif. The Aztecs have road matches at No. 55 San Diego and MW foe No. 22 Boise State next week, before finishing the regular season at home against Hawai'i on April 16.
San Diego State defeated No. 73 Denver, 4-2, to conclude the Mission Valley Hilton Spring Invitational on March 22 before dropping its road match at No. 1 USC, 7-0, on March 25. Senior Hunter Nicholas (Park City, Utah), freshman Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) and freshman Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) each earned singles victories against Denver.
Junior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) was inserted into the Aztecs No. 1 doubles team with Nicholas on March 12, lifting the duo to a 3-3 record in its last six matches, winning two of its last three, and helping SDSU win the doubles point in two of those matches. In addition, the Aztecs No. 2 team of sophomore Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and freshman Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) are 8-4 this dual season, and has won seven of its last 10 matches.
The Aztecs have won seven-consecutive dual matches over UC Santa Barbara, including a road victory over the Gauchos, 4-3, last season. UCSB is 6-11 overall this season and is coming off a home loss to San Francisco, 4-3, on Sunday. A victory on Saturday will be San Diego State head coach Gene Carswell's 150th of his career.