Feb. 20, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's tennis team earned an impressive home sweep over No. 21 South Carolina, 7-0, on a cloudy Friday afternoon at Aztec Tennis Center.
It was the Aztecs' first win over a ranked opponent this season, and the highest ranked team SDSU has defeated since beating No. 16 California in 2013. San Diego State (5-4, 0-1 MW) improved to 5-0 at home this dual season and has won seven-straight at Aztec Tennis Center going back to last season.
"It was a complete team effort all the way around," San Diego State head coach Gene Carswell said. "We know the potential for this team is high, and they're capable of doing special things. What we saw today was it all coming together."
SDSU got off to a fast start on Friday, winning two of three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. The Aztecs' No. 1 duo of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) improved to 8-1 this season, defeating USC's team of Thiago Pinheiro and Kyle Koch, 6-3. Moments later, San Diego State's No. 2 unit of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) fell to the Gamecocks' No. 46-ranked team of Thomas Mayronne and Harrison O'Keefe, 6-4.
The Aztecs clinched the doubles point as the No. 3 squad of sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) and senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) knocked off Andrew Schafer and Andrew Adams, 7-5, and Carswell believes the early momentum the team gathered early on contributed to their success in singles play.
"Doubles definitely set the tone today," Carswell said. "We've been focusing on figuring out the doubles side. We still have a lot to work on, but we're headed in the right direction."
In singles action, sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) put SDSU ahead 2-0 with his victory on the No. 5 court over O'Keefe, 6-4, 6-0, before Gelbrich, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Week, won his No. 1 singles match in straight sets over Adams, 6-1, 6-4.
Khachatryan topped Sam Swank on the No. 6 court, 6-4, 6-2, while Jebens defeated Pinheiro on the No. 3 court, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6. Bertsch won a hard-fought, three-set No. 2 singles battle with 103rd-ranked Koch, 7-6 (8), 0-6, 10-4, and Goles-Babic completed the sweep with his three-set come-from-behind decision over 120th-ranked Schafter, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 11-9.
San Diego State now has a short break in its schedule, and will resume action at home against Rice on Tuesday, March 3.