SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team jumps back into action on Saturday, Jan. 18, when it takes on UC San Diego in an off-campus dual match at The Santaluz Club, located at 8170 Caminito Santaluz East in San Diego. First serve is set for noon PT and admission is free.
The Aztecs will be looking to rebound from a 7-0 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma State in their spring opener at home on Jan. 12. Junior Aaro Pollanen was the lone SDSU newcomer to start against the Cowboys, battling 91st-ranked Dominik Kellovsky at No. 2 singles before falling in a super-tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-7(6), 10-7.
Despite the setback, Pollanen still leads the Aztecs with eight wins on the year, while senior David Hough is second with seven, followed by sophomore Alex Scemanenco and freshman Daniel Traxler, another pair of newcomers who have totaled six apiece.
San Diego State is 8-0 against UCSD dating back to 1989, including a 6-1 triumph at Aztec Tennis Center last season. SDSU captured five of six singles matches in that encounter, including four by returners Fabian Roensdorf, Rafael Gonzalez Almazan, Jan Kirchhoff and Ignacio Martinez, with the latter two also combining to help the Scarlet and Black claim the early doubles point.
The Aztecs played two matches against Triton opponents last October at the SDSU Fall Invitational. Freshman Jules Auffray dispatched Fraser Leslie in the opening round of the State Flight, 6-2, 6-2, and also teamed with Traxler to defeat Leslie and Cody Duong in the first round of Flight B doubles, 6-4. Ironically, Auffray and Leslie are both 2019 graduates of the Mouratoglu Tennis Academy in Biot, France.
The Aztecs have not dropped consecutive dual matches since falling to a pair of ranked opponents at home vs. San Diego and Harvard in March of 2019. Last season, SDSU was 7-2 in matches following a loss.
Following its battle with UCSD, San Diego State continues its spring schedule on Saturday, Jan. 25, when it travels up the freeway to face UCLA at noon PT as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Aztecs will remain at Los Angeles Tennis Center to play either UCF or San Diego on Jan. 26.