Feb. 4, 2016
SAN DIEGO - The No. 38 San Diego State men's tennis team travels north to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to contend with No. 58 Cal Poly on Sat., Feb. 6 and Saint Mary's on Sun., Feb. 7. Both matches at the Mustang Tennis Complex are slated to begin at noon.
After a dominating 6-1 win over Holy Names to open the dual season, Saint Mary's (1-2) lost to Grand Canyon, 5-2, and No. 66 Fresno State by the same score. In the singles bracket, James Markiewicz leads the way for the Gaels, posting a 2-1 record from the No. 3 spot. The doubles pairings of Markiewicz and Thomas Alex Hunt (No. 1 spot) and Jacob Lagman and Nash Vollenweider (No. 2 and No. 3) each have one win. San Diego State takes on the Gaels this weekend for the first time in program history.
Cal Poly is coming off of a close 4-3 win over Seattle on the road, due in part to junior Ben Donovan's come-from-behind singles victory (6-7, 6-3, 6-4). When paired with classmate Corey Pang, the duo has a win in each match in the No. 1 spot. Garrett Auproux and Tim Tan also have a pair of doubles victories in the No. 2 spot. In singles play, freshman Josh Ortlip leads the way with a 2-0 mark. San Diego State has a 9-2 all-time mark against the Mustangs, knocking off Cal Poly, 4-3, last season.
The Aztecs have been tested early in their 2016 dual slate, with three of their four opponents ranked in the top 30 of the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Most recently, San Diego State lost to then-No. 17 Stanford, 7-0. This season, No. 53 Freddy Gelbrich leads the way for the Aztecs in singles play, posting a 4-1 mark. In doubles play, Milen Ianakiev has gone 4-2 on his own, producing a 0-1 record when paired with Santiago Cevallos and is 4-1 when working alongside Marko Goles-Babic.
Following this weekend, San Diego State makes its home 2016 debut at Aztec Tennis Center on Fri., Feb, 19 with a noon match against UC Santa Barbara.