March 26, 2016
San Diego State men's tennis will spend its spring break in Northern California and Nevada, taking on two Mountain West opponents, No. 15 California and Santa Clara between March 27 and April 1. The Aztecs play at Fresno State on Sun., March 27 at 11 a.m., the Golden Bears on Tues., March 29 at 2 p.m., the Broncos on Weds., March 30 at noon and Nevada on Fri., April 1 at 1 p.m.
The Bulldogs (8-9) are coming off of a doubleheader sweep with 7-0 wins on Friday against Division II opponents Sonoma State and Holy Names. Euan McIntosh, Jeremy Moser and Nikolas Papic each have six victories in dual season action, with McIntosh's 7-6 mark leading the team from the Nos. 1 and 2 spots. Mantas Bugailiskis and Mcintosh have dominated their opponents in doubles action, going 10-1 on court No. 1 with a win over Tulane's No. 18-ranked doubles pairing on March 24. Last season, the Scarlet and Black topped Fresno State, 6-1.
No. 15 Cal (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12) also opens conference play this weekend and got off to a good start with a 4-3 win over Utah on Friday. Four Bears are ranked in singles play, led by Andre Goransson (3-5) at No. 17, while Florian Lakat (4-2) is ranked 28th, Billy Griffith (8-0) is No. 40 and Oskar Wikberg (5-1) is 62nd. In doubles action, Lakat and Filip Bergevi (4-2) sit in the No. 44 spot, while Lakat and Goransson (0-1) are 76th. In their last meeting, then-No. 60 SDSU upset then No. 22 Cal at Aztec Tennis Center, 4-2.
Likewise, Santa Clara (6-8, 0-1 WCC) started its conference slate this weekend, falling to No. 68 Pacific, 4-0, on Friday. It was the second time in as many matches the Broncos were unable to post a point against their opponent after falling to No. 22 Tulane on March 22. In the No. 1 spot, Ashot Khacharyan has a 6-5 record, while Kamram Khan leads the way with an 8-4 mark at court No. 5. Doubles play is led by Robert Seby and Connor Garnett's 5-2 record on courts No. 2 and 1. Against the Broncos last season, San Diego State defeated Santa Clara, 4-0, at Aztec Tennis Center.
The Wolfpack (4-9) have had a rough time as of late, going 1-4 in their four most recent matches with their lone win in that time a close 4-3 road win against Saint Mary's. Robert Allen and Ryan Andrada have matching 4-7 marks in dual action to top the team. Andrada and Robert Margitfalvi is Nevada's most consistent doubles pair this season with a 5-5 record from the No. 3 spot. Last year against the Wolfpack, SDSU beat Nevada in the regular season, 5-1, but fell to the Wolfpack in the semifinals of the Mountain West Championships, 4-1.
After facing a challenging field at the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Classic last weekend, San Diego State is mired in a three-match losing skid. The Aztecs (5-9) dropped a battle with No. 8 Texas Tech, 4-3, forcing the match to the final point, before falling to No. 26 Memphis, 4-0, and No. 49 Harvard, 4-1. Against the Raiders, SDSU's top doubles pairing in dual play, Santiago Cevallos and Milen Ianakiev, took the nation's top doubles team to the brink before falling to No. 1 Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares, 7-6 (7).
This season, Hendrik Jebens in the No. 2 spot and Milen Ianakiev in the No. 3 spot have been solid for the Aztecs, with Jebens going 6-2, maintaining a four-match win streak, while Ianakiev is 5-5. In doubles action, Cevallos and Ianakiev are a perfect 4-0 from the No. 2 court but have faltered in the No. 1 position, going 0-4 in the top spot.
Following their spring break trip, the Aztecs return to Aztec Tennis Center for Mountain West matches on April 7 against New Mexico and April 10 against Air Force.