SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team opens the 2019 Mountain West Championship on Thursday, April 25 when it squares off against UNLV in the quarterfinal round in Fresno, Calif. First serve is set for noon PT at Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center on the campus of Fresno State.
In addition to live stats, a link to streaming video will be available on GoAztecs.com via the Mountain West Network.
San Diego State (13-9, 4-3 MW) earned the No. 4 seed in this week's tournament after finishing behind New Mexico (13-7, 7-0 MW), Utah State (18-8, 6-1 MW) and Fresno State (15-10, 5-2 MW) in the conference standings.
UNLV (13-8, 2-5 MW) and Nevada (11-10, 2-5 MW) tied for fifth the league, but the Rebels claimed the No. 5 seed by virtue of their 4-1 victory over the Wolf Pack at home on April 5, while Boise State (11-12, 1-6 MW) and Air Force (12-12, 1-6 MW) received the seventh and eighth seeds, respectively.
As a result, the other conference quarterfinals matchups on Thursday feature New Mexico vs. Air Force at 9 a.m., Utah State vs. Boise State at 3 p.m., and Fresno State vs. Nevada at 6 p.m.
If the Aztecs emerge victorious over the Rebels, they would face the victor of the Lobos-Falcons clash in the semifinals on Friday, April 26 at 11 a.m. PT. The two winners from the semifinal round will battle in the championship final on Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m.
SDSU will engage UNLV for the second straight match after shutting out the Rebels 4-0 at home in their regular-season finale on April 20. The Aztecs took care of business early, capturing the early doubles point before winning three straight singles encounters for their fourth whitewash of the spring and third in conference play.
San Diego State is led by senior Sander Gjoels-Andersen and junior Rafael Gonzalez Almazan, who have amassed 12 victories apiece in dual-match competition, while junior Arnaud Restifo and sophomore Jan Kirchhoff have pocketed 10 wins each this spring. Gjoels-Andersen has entrenched himself at the top of the Aztecs' ladder, posting a 6-3 mark in the No. 1 position, while Gonzalez Almazan is 7-1 in the sixth spot.
Including the fall tournament schedule, Kirchhoff (20-10) and Gonzalez Almazan (20-11) give the Scarlet and Black multiple 20-match winners in the same season for the first time since Marko Goles-Babic (23-7), Hendrik Jebens (22-4) and Milen Ianakiev (20-9) completed the trick in 2015.
In doubles action, Gjoels-Andersen has combined with sophomore Ignacio Martinez to produce a 6-2 record in the No. 1 spot. In addition, Restifo and junior Fabian Roensdorf have been hot of late, winning four in a row at No. 3, including a 6-1 conquest of UNLV's Milos Dabic and Tom Ciszewski in their last outing.
In all, the Aztecs have utilized 15 different tandems in dual matches, capturing the doubles point in eight of their last 10 outings, and are 10-2 this spring when winning the doubles round.
Elsewhere, SDSU has collected three Mountain West Player of the Week honors in the past two months, including Martinez (March 6), Kirchhoff (March 27) and Gjoels-Andersen (April 3).
Conversely, Clayton Alenik leads UNLV with a 13-1 singles record in dual matches playing primarily in the No. 5 position, while Tom Ciszewski is 11-3 exclusively at No. 6. In addition, Jordan Sauer has compiled a 12-8 mark this spring alternating between the top four slots on the Rebels' ladder.
In doubles, Sauer and Olle Thestrup have been UNLV's most successful duo this spring, posting a 13-4 record in the No. 2 spot, while Alenik and Samuelsson have joined forces to compile an 8-7 ledger at No. 1.
San Diego State is 24-10 against UNLV dating back to 1989 and has captured 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two schools. The Aztecs are 5-0 against the Rebels in Mountain West tournament history, including a 4-2 triumph in the quarterfinals of the 2015 event. SDSU last lost to UNLV in postseason play during its final year in the Western Athletic Conference, dropping a 4-2 decision in the semifinal round.
The Aztecs have won five straight openers at the MW Championship , including a 4-2 upset over third-seeded New Mexico at home last year after the Scarlet and Black entered as the No. 6 seed.