SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team resumes its lengthy homestand this weekend when it welcomes No. 23 Alabama and Northern Arizona to The Mesa for a pair of non-conference dual matches. The Aztecs will battle the Crimson Tide on Friday, Feb. 8, beginning at 3 p.m. PT, before tackling the Lumberjacks on Sunday, Feb. 10, starting at noon.
Admission to all SDSU matches at Aztec Tennis Center is free. In addition, free pizza will be available for Friday's SDSU-Alabama clash to all current San Diego State students with a valid Red ID while supplies last.
The Aztecs (2-1) have won two straight after knocking off UC Irvine by a 4-3 count on Jan. 26, followed by a 6-1 conquest of UC San Diego in their last outing on Feb. 1. Against the Tritons, SDSU captured its first doubles point of the season as the tandem of Jan Kirchhoff and Ignacio Martinez secured the result with a victory in the No. 2 position. The Scarlet and Black subsequently collected five wins in singles play, with Martinez once again supplying the clinching tally in the second slot.
For the season, Kirchhoff leads the Aztecs with a 12-6 record in singles competition, while Rafael Gonzalez Almazan owns a 10-7 mark. In addition, San Diego State has received a tremendous boost this spring from Sander Gjoels-Andersen, who has won three straight, improving to 7-5 overall, while mid-year transfer Fabian Roensdorf has emerged victorious in his last two encounters.
The Aztecs dropped their only meeting vs. Alabama last year, falling by a 4-1 count on the road. Arnaud Restifo recorded SDSU's lone point of the match with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Patrick Kaukovalta at No. 2 singles.
The Crimson Tide (6-1) slipped four notches in the latest Oracle/ITA national rankings, landing in the 23rd spot after suffering their first loss of the year in a 4-3 defeat to Minnesota at home on Feb. 1. Alabama has two other wins over Big Ten schools, edging then-No. 23 Michigan on Jan. 19 before dispatching Northwestern by a 5-2 tally on Jan. 25.
Individually, the Crimson Tide boast the nation's 40th-ranked singles player in Mazen Osama, who has compiled a 4-2 record at the top of their ladder, while Edson Ortiz is 7-0 in dual matches playing primarily the second and third spots and has won 10 straight dating back to fall. In addition, Zhe Zhou is off to 6-1 start this spring, including a 3-0 mark at No. 6, while Jeremy Gschwendtner is undefeated in his first three appearances for Alabama, notching one win apiece in the fourth, fifth and six positions.
Kaukovalta and Ortiz, who share the team lead with 14 singles victories for the year, are also among the Crimson Tide's top doubles performers. Kaukovalta is 9-4 on the season, including a 3-1 pairing with Osama at No. 1, while Ortiz is 8-5 overall, including a 4-1 mark alongside Zhou in the No. 3 spot.
Northern Arizona (1-2), meanwhile, dropped a pair of dual matches in a road doubleheader at Utah on Feb. 2, falling 6-1 in the opener and 5-2 in the nightcap. Previously, the Lumberjacks edged Portland 4-3 in a neutral-site encounter on Jan. 26 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Individually, NAU has been led by Tim Handel, who is 3-0 at No. 1 singles this spring, while Lucas Taylor is 1-2 in the second position, matching the records of Facuna Tumosa and Ruben Montano, who have seen action in the fifth and sixth slots, respectively.
In doubles, Handel and Montano have joined forces to post a 2-1 mark in the No. 1 position, while the tandems of Tumosa/Lucas Taylor and Tom Fisher/Chris Steele have split time in the second and third spots.
The Aztecs are 5-1 vs. the Lumberjacks since 1989, including a 6-1 triumph at home in the last encounter between the two squads on Feb. 10, 2017. After winning the doubles point on that date, the Scarlet and Black took five of six singles matches, with Gonzalez Almazan providing the clinching point with a three-set victory over Fisher at No. 6.
The Aztecs also defeated three NAU opponents in singles at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, as Kirchhoff posted a three-set triumph over Fisher in round one of his flight, while Gonzalez Almazan outlasted Steele in a super-tiebreaker during consolation play. In addition, Restifo came through with a marathon super-tiebreaker of his own vs. Montano in a compass draw match.
Not to be outdone, Restifo joined forces with Nicholas Mitchell in doubles at that tournament to dismiss the Lumberjack duo of Steele and Ron Idzon in an opening-round affair.
Following this weekend's competition, San Diego State returns to the courts on Sunday, Feb. 17, when it plays host to San Francisco, starting at noon PT.