March 12, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State men's tennis team used a total team effort to secure its second consecutive win with a 4-3 victory over Arizona at Aztec Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
"It was nice to get two wins at home," head coach Gene Carswell said. "I'm especially proud of the guys today with another team win. Our guys fought really hard and I'm proud of them for that."
The Aztecs trailed heading into singles play after failing to secure the doubles point. Hendrik Jebens and Sander Gjoels-Andersen opened doubles play with a 6-3 win over Naoki Takeda and Matt Dunn in the No. 3 spot. But Santiago Cevallos and Milen Ianakiev dropped their match at No. 1, 6-4, to Oliver Plaskett and Will Kneale, and Marko Goles-Babic and Freddy Gelbrich suffered a tight 7-6 (4) defeat to Jason Jaruvung and Shoki Kasahara.
"We didn't get that doubles point but were knocking on the door of getting it," Carswell said. "We didn't let that keep us down. We came back fighting in singles and it was a complete effort all the way down the lineup."
Down 1-0 entering singles play, San Diego State clawed their way back and got the first point from court No. 2 when Jebens defeated Jaruvang 6-4, 6-1. Andersen followed that up with a win from the No. 4 spot, beating Harry Busby 6-2, 6-4, and Goles-Babic topped Oliver Plaskett at court No. 5 6-3, 7-5, giving SDSU a 3-1 lead midway through singles play.
However, Jonas Meinzer was dropped by Trent Botha 6-4, 6-4 from No. 6 and Takeda defeated Gelbrich on court No. 1, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to tie the score at 3-3.
But it was Aztec junior Milen Ianakiev who clinched the match for SDSU from the No. 3 spot. He won a nail-biter in the first set, 7-6 (2), but fell in the second set 3-6. Ianakiev rebounded, though, in the third set with a 6-3 win for the 4-3 San Diego State victory.
Next up, SDSU welcomes USD, Harvard, Princeton, Tulane, Texas Tech, Denver and Memphis to Aztec Tennis Center for the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Classic, which runs from March 17-29. The Aztecs will host the first two rounds of the tournament, while the location of the remaining matches will be announced at a later date.
"We all know that that tournament is a really deep field," said Carswell of the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Classic. "We've got some things that we can continue to improve upon. If we can shore up the doubles side of things, that will give us a really good shot against the teams that are coming to town."
The tournament will be the Aztecs' final matches of their non-conference schedule. "Our conference is always competitive," Carswell said. "Last year, this conference qualified three teams into the NCAA Tournament. But we are definitely going to be prepared with all of the matches that we have moving towards conference."
San Diego State 4, Arizona 3
March 12, 2016
Aztec Tennis Center, San Diego, Calif.
Singles
1. Naoki Takeda (UA) def. Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU), 7-6 (5), 6-3
2. Hendrik Jebens (SDSU) def. Jason Jaruvang (UA) 6-4, 6-1
3. Milen Ianakiev (SDSU) def. Will Kneale (UA) 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3
4. Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU) def. Harry Busby (UA) 6-2, 6-4
5. Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU) def. Oliver Plaskett (UA) 6-3, 7-5
6. Trent Botha (UA) def. Jonas Meinzer (SDSU) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5,1,6,2,3,4
Doubles
1. Oliver Plaskett/Will Kneale (UA) def. Santiago Cevallos/Milen Ianakiev (SDSU) 6-4
2. Jason Jaruvang/Shoki Kasahara (UA) def. Marko Goles-Babic/Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU) 7-6 (4)
3. Hendrik Jebens/Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU) def. Naoki Takeda/Matt Dunn (UA) 6-3
Order of Finish: 2,3,1