April 18, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The 38th-ranked San Diego State men's tennis team closed off its regular-season schedule in style Saturday with a 4-0 blanking of UNLV in a Mountain West dual match at Aztec Tennis Center.
With the win, SDSU captured its seventh victory in its last nine outings, improving to 17-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play, while the Rebels slip to 13-9 on the year and 3-4 in the MW.
Under a crystal-blue midday sky, the Aztecs wasted little time in securing the doubles point as the 57th-ranked tandem of Hendrik Jebens and Freddy Gelbrich knocked off the UNLV duo of Ruben Alberts and Jakob Amilon, 6-1, on the No. 1 court, while the pairing of Marko Goles-Babic and Santiago Cevallos prevailed by an identical score over the team of Alexandr Cozbinov and Denys Pume on court No. 3.
With a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard, SDSU made relatively quick work of the Rebels in singles play, posting a trio of straight-set victories to complete the shutout. First off the court was Gelbrich, ranked 119th in the latest ITA singles poll, who stymied Ace Matias by a 6-0, 6-2 tally at the No. 1 position, while Goles-Babic emerged triumphant over Adam Gage-Brown, 6-4, 6-4, on court No. 4 to raise his record to 17-3 in his last 20 encounters.
Shortly thereafter, Milen Ianakiev delivered the clinching point for the Scarlet and Black after defeating Alexandr Cozbinov on the No. 5 court, 6-2, 6-3. With the requisite four victories safely secured, matches on courts 2, 3 and 6 were abandoned.
San Diego State will now begin preparations for the Mountain West Championships, scheduled for April 23-26 at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
No. 38 San Diego State 4, UNLV 0
Aztec Tennis Center; San Diego, Calif.
Doubles
1. Jebens/Gelbrich (SDSU) def. Alberts/Amilon, 6-1.
2. Bertsch/Meinzer (SDSU) vs. Matias/Gage-Brown, 5-2 (DNF).
3. Goles-Babic/Cevallos (SDSU) def. Cozbinov/Pume, 6-1.
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles
1. Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU) def. Ace Matias, 6-0, 6-2.
2. Hendrik Jebens (SDSU) vs. Denys Pume, 6-4, 2-3 (DNF).
3. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) vs. Jakob Amilon, 4-6, 6-1 (DNF).
4. Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU) def. Adam Gage-Brown, 6-4, 6-4.
5. Milen Ianakiev (SDSU) def. Alexandr Cozbinov, 6-2, 6-3.
6. Saxon Buehning (SDSU) vs. Ruben Alberts, 6-4, 5-4 (DNF).
Order of finish: 1, 4, 5*
*match-securing victory