March 16, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The No. 35 San Diego State men's tennis team won its sixth-consecutive dual match on Monday afternoon, as the Aztecs defeated No. 51 Iowa, 5-2, at Aztec Tennis Center.
SDSU (10-4, 1-1 MW) has won six in a row for the first time since its run of 10-straight victories in 2007. The Aztecs also improved to 10-0 at home this season, and have won 12-consecutive dual matches at Aztec Tennis Center going back to last season.
San Diego State began the day by winning the doubles point for the fifth time in its last six matches. The Aztecs No. 1 duo of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany), currently ranked 63rd in the nation, defeated Iowa's 74th-ranked team of Matt Hagan and Dominic Patrick, 6-2, to improve to 11-2 on the season. SDSU then clinched the point when the No. 2 unit of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) topped Nils Hallestrand and Josh Silverstein, 6-2.
With the doubles point already decided, SDSU's No. 3 team of sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) and senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) trailed Jake Jacoby and Lefteris Theodorou, 5-3, as the match went unfinished.
Gelbrich began singles play by earning a straight-sets victory on the No. 1 court over 104th-ranked Hagan, 6-1, 6-1, while Goles-Babic followed with his seventh-consecutive No. 4 singles by beating Stieg Martens, 6-2, 6-4. Jebens then sealed the dual-match victory by defeating Theodorou on the No. 3 court, 6-0, 7-6 (2).
With the final outcome already decided, sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, German) fell short in No. 5 singles to Silverstein, 6-4, 6-4, Khachatryan dropped his match in No. 6 singles to Jacoby, 7-6 (2), 6-2, and Bertsch closed out the match by defeating Patrick, 6-4, 6-4, for his sixth-straight win on the No. 2 court.
San Diego State will return to action on Thursday, March 19, when the Aztecs begin the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Tennis Classic at Aztec Tennis Center. SDSU will play at 2 p.m. PT, against an opponent to be determined this week.