March 28, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The No. 35 San Diego State men's tennis team won its third-consecutive dual match on Saturday, knocking off Santa Clara, 4-0, at Aztec Tennis Center.
SDSU (13-5, 1-1 MW) improved to 13-1 at home this dual season, and has won nine of its last 10 matches overall. The Aztecs are also 4-1 all-time against Santa Clara.
The day began with San Diego State winning the doubles point for the seventh time in its last 10 dual matches, as the No. 3 team of senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) and sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) defeated Ashot Khacharyan and Sebastien Mathieu, 6-2.
The Aztecs' 65th-ranked doubles unit of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) topped Ilya Osintev and Sam Bertram, 7-6 (2), on the No. 1 court to clinch the doubles point, while SDSU's No. 2 duo of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) was locked in a tight battle with Michael Standifer and Max Heerinckx, 6-6, once the point was decided.
San Diego State finished up the match quickly in singles action, as sophomore Saxon Buehning (Essex Fells, N.J.) earned a No. 5 singles win over Heerinckx, 6-0, 6-0, while Meinzer knocked off Standifer on the No. 6 court, 6-0, 6-1, pulling the Aztecs within one point of the dual victory.
Jebens ended it with his victory on the No. 3 court over Bertram, 6-1, 6-3, to hand Santa Clara its sixth loss in its last seven dual matches. With the final outcome decided, No. 111th-ranked Gelbrich was leading the second set on the No. 1 court against Osintev, 6-7 (3), 1-0, Bertsch was also leading the second set on the No. 2 court against Khacharyan, 4-6, 2-1, and sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) was on his way to a straight-sets victory on the No. 4 court against Mathieu, 7-5, 2-0.
San Diego State returns to action on Friday, April 3, as the Aztecs resume Mountain West action by playing host to Fresno State beginning at 1 p.m. PT.