April 10, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The No. 37 San Diego State men's tennis team got back to its winning ways on Friday afternoon, defeating Mountain West foe Air Force, 5-2, at Air Force Academy Outdoor Tennis Courts.
SDSU (16-6, 4-1 MW) has won six of its last seven dual matches and 12 of its last 14. In addition, the Aztecs improved to 5-1 this season in matches following a loss.
The contest began with San Diego State winning the doubles point for the fourth-consecutive dual match and 10th time in its last 14 matches. SDSU's No. 2 team of senior Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) and sophomore Jonas Meinzer (Buggingen, Germany) defeated Jack McCullers and Max Olson, 6-4, but the No. 1 team and 60th-ranked duo of junior Freddy Gelbrich (Isernhagen, Germany) and sophomore Hendrik Jebens (Stuttgart, Germany) suffered a rare loss to Grant Taylor and Lucas Fumagalli, 6-4.
But with the doubles point on the line, The Aztecs No. 3 unit of sophomore Marko Goles-Babic (Zagreb, Croatia) and senior Andranik Khachatryan (Burbank, Calif.) earned its eighth-straight victory by beating Andrew Parks and Nicholas Carpenter, 6-4, to clinch the point.
In singles play, Jebens got SDSU off to a good start with his 12th-consecutive win on the No. 3 court over Fumagalli, 6-4, 6-2, while Goles-Babic followed with a No. 4 singles victory against Olson, 6-4, 6-3, to put the Aztecs ahead 3-0.
Khachatryan sealed the dual-match victory with his decision on the No. 6 court over Carptenter, 6-4, 6-1. With the final outcome already decided, Bertsch lost his No. 2 singles match to McCullers, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 105th-ranked Gelbrich fell in a tight match on the No. 1 singles court to Taylor, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8, and sophomore Milen Ianakiev (Elz, Germany) pulled out a three-set victory over Parks, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0.
San Diego State resumes MW play on Sunday, as the Aztecs wrap up their two-match road trip at New Mexico beginning at 2 p.m. MT.
Air Force Men's Tennis Recap
San Diego State 5, Air Force 2
Friday, April 10, 2015
Air Force Academy Outdoor Tennis Courts
Singles
1 Grant Taylor (AF) def. Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU), 2-6, 7-6, 1-0
2 Jack McCullers (AF) def. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU), 7-6, 6-2
3 Hendrick Jebens (SDSU) def. Lucas Fumagalli (AF), 6-4, 6-2
4 Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU) def. Max Olson (AF), 6-4, 6-3
5 Milen Ianakiev (SDS) def. Andrew Parks (AF), 5-7, 7-5, 1-0
6 Andranik Khachatryan (SDSU) def. Nicholas Carptenter (AF), 6-4,6-1
Order of finish: 3, 4, 6, 2, 1, 5
Doubles
1 Grant Taylor/Lucas Fumagalli (AF) def. Hendrik Jebens/Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU), 6-4
2 Thorsten Bertsch/Jonas Meinzer (SDS) def. Jack McCullers/Max Olson (AF), 6-4
3 Marko Goles-Babic/Andranik Khachatryan (SDS) def. Andrew Parks/Nicholas Carptenter (AF) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3