March 20, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The No. 38 San Diego State men's tennis team got back to its winning ways on Friday, as the Aztecs defeated Middle Tennessee State, 5-0, on the second day of the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Tennis Classic at Aztec Tennis Center.
SDSU (11-5, 1-1 MW) has won seven of its last eight dual matches, and bounced back well after suffering its first home loss of the season on Thursday to No. 33-ranked Drake.
"I'm very happy with the way our guys responded after yesterday's match," SDSU head coach Gene Carswell said. "We came out with good energy, and I'm proud of the group all the way down the line."
The Aztecs began the day by claiming the doubles point, as the No. 1 team of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) topped Gian Issa and Yannick Born, 6-2, while the No. 3 unit of sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) and senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) knocked off Robin Riethmueller and Miguel Fernandez, 6-2.
With the doubles point decided, SDSU's No. 2 team of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) was locked in a tight battle with Ettore Zito and Dima Zhymantovich, 3-3.
San Diego State wrapped up the dual-match victory in singles play, as Goles-Babic started it off with his win on the No. 4 court over Fernandez, 6-4, 6-2, while Jebens defeated Born in three sets on the No. 3 court, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Gelbrich clinched the dual-match victory with his No. 1 singles straight-sets decision over Zito, 6-4, 6-0, at the same time Bertsch finished off Zyhmantovich on the No. 2 court, 6-3, 6-3. With the final outcome already decided, sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) led Riethmueller on the No. 5 court, 7-5, 4-2, and Khachatryan was headed to the third set on the No. 6 court against Issa, 6-4, 2-6.
San Diego State returns to action on Saturday, as the Aztecs wrap up tournament play against No. 43 Denver beginning at 2 p.m. PT at Aztec Tennis Center.
"It's not going to get any easier (Saturday)," Carswell said. "We're going to have to show up and work as hard as we did today."