March 3, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's tennis team won its second-consecutive dual match over a ranked opponent on Tuesday afternoon, defeating No. 75 Rice, 6-1, at Aztec Tennis Center.
SDSU (6-4, 0-1 MW) improved to 2-2 this season against ranked foes, and is now 6-0 at home this dual season. The Aztecs have won eight straight dual matches at Aztec Tennis Center going back to last season.
In doubles action to begin the day, the Aztecs got victories from both its No. 2 and No. 3 teams to clinch the doubles point. SDSU's No. 3 duo of senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) and sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) defeated Rice's team of Gustavo Gonzalez and Adam Gustafsson, 6-4, before the No. 2 unit of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) knocked off Srikar Alla and Jamie Malik, 7-5, to win the point.
In addition, the Aztecs' No. 1 doubles team of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) was locked in a tight battle with Rice's duo of Max Andrews and David Warren, 6-6, but went unfinished once SDSU sealed the doubles point.
Bertsch kept San Diego State's momentum going in singles play, topping Malik in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, on the No. 2 court, before Gelbrich won his No. 1 singles match by knocking off Alla, 6-2, 7-5, and extending the Aztecs' advantage to 3-0. It was the fourth-straight singles victory for both Bertsch and Gelbrich.
Sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) clinched the dual-match victory with his No. 5 singles decision over Warren, 6-3, 6-4, while Goles-Babic won a hard-fought No. 4 singles match against Andrews, 7-6 (4), 6-4, for his fourth-consecutive singles win. With the final outcome already decided, Khachatryan dropped his No. 6 singles match in three sets to Gonzalez, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Jebens knocked off Gustaffson on the No. 3 court, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
San Diego State returns to the court on Thursday, March 5, when its plays host to No. 22 California, beginning at 11 a.m. PT.