SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team embarks on its final road trip of the 2019 regular season this weekend when it ventures to Air Force and New Mexico for a pair of Mountain West dual matches. The Aztecs will battle the Falcons on Friday, April 12 at noon MT/11 a.m. PT, before tangling with the Lobos on Sunday, April 14 at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT.
A links to live stats will be available for both encounters on GoAztecs.com, with live video included for the Air Force clash.
After dropping a narrow 4-3 decision to Fresno State on April 5, SDSU closed out its homestand in style with a 4-1 triumph over Santa Clara and a 4-0 shutout of Nevada on successive days. With their results, the Aztecs (11-8, 2-2 MW) are tied with UNLV for fourth place in the conference standings and are just one win away from doubling their total for the entire 2018 campaign when they posted a 6-20 ledger.
San Diego State sports three players who have recorded double-digit singles victories in this spring, including junior Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (10-4), senior Sander Gjoels-Andersen (10-5) and junior Arnaud Restifo (10-7), who owns the team's longest current winning streak at four straight matches.
In addition, sophomore Jan Kirchhoff has racked up a 19-9 record overall and a 9-4 mark in dual matches, while fellow classmate Ignacio Martinez has been hot of late, winning three in row to move to 8-8 this spring.
The Aztecs have employed 15 different doubles tandems in dual matches, with Gjoels-Andersen and Martinez comprising the team's most successful duo with a 6-0 record in the No. 1 position. SDSU has captured the doubles point in six of its last seven outings and is 9-2 this spring when winning the doubles round.
Air Force (10-10, 0-4 MW) snapped a five-match losing streak with a 6-1 triumph at Weber State in its last match on April 8. Friday's clash vs. the Aztecs will be the Falcons' first Mountain West home match of the year after suffering defeats at Fresno State (4-1, Jan. 27), Nevada (4-3, March 30), Utah State (4-1, April 5) and Boise State (4-1, April 7).
Air Force has been paced by sophomore Paul Hendrix's 12-8 singles record, while fellow classmate Patrick Sklenka has racked up eight wins this spring, along with seniors Tadhg Collins and Luke Sanderson.
In doubles, the Falcons' duo of Hendrix and sophomore Jamie Bautista have posted a 9-4 record in dual matches, while the pairing of Sklenka and Collins and Hendrix have nine wins to their credit as well.
San Diego State has dominated the all-time series against Air Force, winning 31 straight since 1989, capped by a 4-0 whitewash at Aztec Tennis Center last season. Martinez and Restifo are the lone SDSU returners with singles victories from that encounter, posting straight set decisions in the top two spots, respectively, while Gjoels-Andersen, Kirchhoff and Gonzalez Almazan were each extended into a third set when the Scarlet and Black clinched the match.
Perched atop the Mountain West entering the weekend, New Mexico (9-6, 4-0 MW) has won five straight, including back-to-back conquests at home over Cal Poly (5-2, March 24) and Fresno State (4-1, March 29), followed by consecutive road victories at Nevada (4-2, March 31), Boise State (4-3, April 5) and Utah State (4-1, April 7).
The Lobos and Aztecs have faced one common opponent during their respective non-conference schedules. UNM dropped a 4-1 decision to Drake at home on March 18, while SDSU defeated the same Bulldog squad by an identical score on March 23 at the San Diego Spring Classic.
The Lobos have been led by junior Dominic West, who has compiled a 9-3 singles record playing exclusively at the No. 2 position, while sophomore Stepan Holis is 7-4 this spring, seeing the most of his action in the third spot. In addition, senior Ricky Hernandez-Tong has amassed seven wins at the top of the ladder, while freshman Facundo Bermejo is 6-4 in dual matches alternating between the fourth and fifth slots.
West and Bermejo have combined to form UNM's most successful doubles team this spring with a 10-4 record, including a 9-3 mark in the No. 2 position, while Holis and Hernandez-Tong are 7-4 in the No. 1 spot.
San Diego State is 22-18 against the Lobos dating back to 1989, including a 4-2 triumph in the quarterfinals of the MW Championship a year ago at Aztec Tennis Center. After securing the all-important doubles point, sixth-seeded SDSU completed the upset of No. 3 UNM thanks to a trio of three-set victories in singles play, including two by Restifo (No. 2) and Gonzalez Almazan (No. 5).
Following this weekend's action, San Diego State closes out its regular-season slate on Saturday, April 20, when it plays host to UNLV at Aztec Tennis Center, starting at noon PT.