Sept. 22, 2016
Wildcat Invitational Draws | Battle in the Bay Draws
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's tennis team opens its 2016 fall schedule this weekend with a split roster competing at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., and the Battle in the Bay Classic in San Francisco, Calif.
Three Aztecs will appear at the Wildcat Invite to be held Sept. 23-25 at Ventana Canyon Golf and Racquet Club, including freshmen David Hough and Joel Popov, along with sophomore Raul de la Torre. Hough will see his first action in a Scarlet and Black uniform on Friday, squaring off against Northern Arizona's Tim Handel beginning at 8:30 a.m., while Popov and de la Torre and received first-round byes.
Popov will also take to the court on Friday facing the winner of the opening-round match between Arizona's Harry Busby and Adrian Legaretta of Grand Canyon, starting at 11:30 a.m., while de la Torre is slated to battle either Northern Arizona's Felix Schumann or Francois Musitelli of Grand Canyon at 1 p.m.
Doubles play also commences on Friday, with the SDSU tandem of Popov and Hough engaging the Grand Canyon pairing of Legaretta and Phillip Kuehnen.
In addition to the aforementioned squads, the Wildcat Invitational also features players from New Mexico State, Wichita State, Fresno State and Mesa Community College.
Meanwhile at the University of San Francisco's Battle in the Bay, Aztec senior Marko Goles-Babic earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of the opening-round encounter between San Diego's Joshua Page and Cody Rakela of UC Santa Barbara Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. In addition, sophomore Sander Gjoels-Andersen will lock horns with another Gaucho opponent Morgan Mays at 5:30 p.m. after both players earned a first-round bye as well.
In doubles competition, Goles-Babic and Gjoels-Andersen will also join forces on Saturday at California Tennis Club to battle either Boise State's duo of Kyle Butters-Jack Heslin or Iowa's tandem of Kareem Allaf and Jake Jacoby.
Other schools represented at the eighth annual Battle in the Bay include California, Cal Poly, UC Davis, USC, Pepperdine, Portland and TCU.
Following this weekend's action, San Diego State will return to the court for the ITA Men's All-American Championships, Oct. 1-9, in Tulsa, Okla.