March 5, 2015
SAN DIEGO - Sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) won an intense, three-set No. 5 singles match to lift the No. 60 San Diego State men's tennis team to an upset victory over No. 22 California, 4-2, on Thursday afternoon at Aztec Tennis Center.
The win was the Aztecs' third-consecutive victory over a ranked opponent, as SDSU (7-4, 0-1 MW) is now a perfect 7-0 at home this dual season. It is also San Diego State's second-straight win against Cal, as the Aztecs topped then-No. 16-ranked Golden Bears, 4-3, in 2013.
SDSU began the day by winning the doubles point for the second-consecutive dual match. The Aztecs No. 1 duo of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) defeated the Golden Bears No. 31-ranked team of Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton, 6-3, improving to 9-1 this dual season. In addition, the No. 2 unit of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) knocked off Andre Goransson and J.T. Nishimura, 7-5, to clinch the doubles point.
With the point all wrapped up, San Diego State's No. 3 team of senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) and sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) was locked in a tight battle with Filip Bergevi and Oskar Wikberg, 6-6 (8-8), that went unfinished.
Goles-Babic began singles action with his fifth-straight victory on the No. 4 court, defeating Billy Griffith, 6-3, 6-3. Gelbrich dropped his match on the No. 1 court to No. 58-ranked Goransson, 6-3, 6-1, and California (9-4) tied the dual match at 2-2 when Khachatryan fell short in his No. 6 singles match to Wikberg, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
However, Jebens put the Aztecs back on top with his No. 3 singles win against Bayane, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (1), while Ianakiev went on to seal the dual-match victory with his No. 5 singles win. Bertsch's No. 2 singles match against Bergevi went unfinished with Cal ahead in the second set, 7-6 (5), 5-3.
San Diego State will compete in this weekend's Pacific Coast Doubles Championship beginning Thursday evening in La Jolla, Calif., and resumes dual-match play on Sunday, March 8, against Mountain West foe No. 65 Boise State at 11 a.m. PT.