Jan. 14, 2017
HONOLULU -- The San Diego State men's tennis wrapped up its season-opening excursion to the Aloha State on a sour note Saturday, falling to UC Santa Barbara by a 7-0 count in a neutral-site clash at UH Tennis Complex. With the defeat, the Aztecs slip to 1-1 on the season, while Gauchos (1-0) won their third straight in the all-time series between the two sides.
Despite the margin of defeat, SDSU took away several positives from the dual, including a tight battle at No. 1 doubles, where the Aztec tandem of Sander Gjoels-Andersen and Marko Goles-Babic found themselves deadlocked at 3-3 against the 19th-ranked UCSB duo of Simon Freund and Morgan Mays. However, the match was suspended after the Gauchos secured the doubles point with victories in the second and third positions.
The SDSU pairing of Santiago Cevallos and Milen Ianakiev suffered a 6-0 loss to Nicholas Moreno de Alboran and Anders Holm on the No. 2 court, while the combo of David Hough and Joel Popov experienced a similar fate against UCSB's Chase Masciorini and Kristian Prior, dropping a 6-2 decision at No. 3.
With momentum on their side, the Gauchos swept all six singles matches. The Aztecs held second-set leads in three of those encounters, but were unable to capitalize. After falling in the opening set at No. 1, Ianakiev built a 4-1 cushion in the second frame, but could not maintain the upper hand against Moreno de Alboran, who rallied for a 6-3, 7-5 triumph.
Similarly, Goles-Babic found himself on the wrong side of the scoreboard against Mays on court No. 2, falling 6-3, 7-6(1). The SDSU senior reached set point twice with leads of 5-4 and 6-5 in the second stanza before his UCSB adversary fought himself off the ropes.
Likewise, Gjoels-Andersen was poised to capture the second set against Freund at No. 3 after nursing a slim 5-4 advantage until his Gaucho foe came back to register a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
Aztec freshman Rafael Gonzalez Almazan managed to extend his encounter with Cody Rakela to three sets in the fifth spot, but saw his rally fall short by a count of 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Rounding out the SDSU delegation were fellow classmates Joel Popov and David Hough, who witnessed straight-set defeats at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively. Popov dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Masciorini, while Hough was victimized by Holm, 6-3, 6-2.
San Diego State will have eight days off from competition before returning to the courts for their home opener vs. 20th-ranked Mississippi State on Sunday, Jan. 22, at Aztec Tennis Center. Match time is set for 11 a.m. PT.
UC Santa Barbara 7, San Diego State 0
UH Tennis Complex
Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan. 14, 2017
Doubles
1. #19 Simon Freund/Morgan Mays (UCSB) vs. Marko Goles-Babic/Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU), 3-3, DNF
2. Nicholas Moreno de Alboran/Anders Holm (UCSB) def. Santiago Cevallos/Milen Ianakiev (SDSU), 6-0
3. Chase Masciorini/Kristian Prior (UCSB) def. Joel Popov/David Hough (SDSU), 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3
UCSB wins doubles point
Singles
1. Nicholas Moreno de Alboran (UCSB) def. Milen Ianakiev (SDSU), 6-3, 7-5
2. Morgan Mays (UCSB) def. Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU), 6-3, 7-6(1)
3. Simon Freund (UCSB) def. Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Chase Masciorini (UCSB) def. Joel Popov (SDSU), 6-3, 6-4
5. Cody Rakela (UCSB) def. Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
6. Anders Holm (UCSB) def. David Hough (SDSU), 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 1, 4*, 3, 2, 5
*Match-clinching victory