SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team was unable to overcome a slow start against UC Davis on Friday, falling short in its second straight dual match, as the visiting Aggies claimed a 4-2 victory at Aztec Tennis Center.
For the fourth time in six outings this season, SDSU (2-4) found itself trailing after ceding the early doubles point.
The lone bright spot in the round was the combo of Victor Castro and Rafael Gonzalez Almazan, who raced to a 5-2 lead over the Aggies' Dariush Jalali and Arjith Jayaraman in the third position. However, the match was abandoned after UCD (2-4) opened with two straight wins to grab a 1-0 lead on the team scoreboard.
The Aztecs' No. 1 pairing of Johannes Seeman and Aaro Pollanen had no answers for David Goulak and Ivan Thamma, who claimed a 6-1 decision, while Ignacio Martinez and Judson Blair experienced a similar result at No. 2, suffering a 6-3 setback at the hands of Andrei Volgin and Mitchell Davis.
San Diego State fought back in singles competition, as three of six matches were extended to three sets.
However, Martinez was the first one off the court thanks to a 6-3, 6-2 conquest of Goulak in the second spot, which tied the score at 1-1.
The Aggies eventually reclaimed the lead for good after Volgin outlasted Gonzalez Almazan in a 7-5, 7-5 nail-biter at No. 3, while Jayaraman dispatched Blair in the fourth position, 7-5, 6-3.
Trailing 3-1, the Aztecs narrowed the gap when Seeman turned on the afterburners in a three-set victory over Thamma at the top of the ladder, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1.
SDSU was unable to complete the comeback, however, as Castro experienced the opposite fate against Andras Necz in the fourth slot, capturing the first set by a 6-2 count before dropping the next two, 6-4, 7-5, respectively, which gave UC Davis the requisite four team points for the win.
With the day's outcome no longer in question, the No. 6 match pitting the Aztecs' Roni Rikkonen against Chethan Swanson was suspended with the Aggie player holding a 4-1 lead in the third set. Rikkonen fell by a 6-3 tally in the opening set before winning a tiebreaker in the second, 7-6(7).
San Diego State returns to action on Wednesday, March 10, when it plays host to former Mountain West adversary Utah at Aztec Tennis Center, starting at 2 p.m. PT.