SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team continues fall tournament schedule this weekend when it travels up the freeway to participate in the North Ranch Invitational, Sept. 24-26, in Westlake Village, California.
Four players will represent the Aztecs on the courts of North Ranch Country Club, including senior Joe Tyler (Corby, England), junior Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil), sophomore Johannes Seeman (Pärnu, Estonia) and freshman Alexander Mändma (Tallinn, Estonia).
In addition to SDSU, the three-day tournament will feature players from UNLV, Nebraska, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Hawai'i.
The three-day event commences on Friday morning and will consist of singles and doubles play throughout the weekend.
Seeman and Mändma are slated to comprise one of the doubles tandems for the Scarlet and Black, while Castro and Tyler are expected to join forces for the other duo.
Seeeman, who garnered all-Mountain West accolades in both singles and doubles last spring during his first season at SDSU, will see his first action of the fall, along with Tyler.
Seeman led the Aztecs with eight singles victories during an abbreviated spring campaign, rising to No. 123 in the ITA individual rankings for two weeks between March 30 and April 13, before earning MW Player of the Week honors on April 26. He also compiled a team-best 9-4 record in the No. 1 doubles position alongside Castro, highlighted by a five-match winning streak between March 21 and April 9.
Tyler, meanwhile, was granted an extra season of athletic eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will spend it at San Diego State after winning four letters at Big Ten member Iowa from 2018-21. The Corby, England, native amassed 56 singles victories with the Hawkeyes, including 40 wins in dual-match competition, where he alternated between the second, third and fourth positions on the team's ladder.
Tyler has witnessed success in fall tournament play, logging a runner-up finish in doubles alongside former Iowa teammate Oliver Okonkwo at the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he also captured the consolation singles title.
SDSU is coming off a strong showing last weekend at UNLV's Easley Memorial Classic, where Castro and Mändma reached the Flight 1 doubles final, where the Aztec tandem dropped a narrow 8-6 decision to Gonzaga's Matt Hollingworth and Sasha Trkulja. In addition, Castro advanced to the Flight 1 consolation singles final, while junior Alex Scemanenco (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.) won two matches in the Flight 2 singles main draw.
Following the North Ranch Invitational, San Diego State will split its squad for a pair of tournaments next weekend. Select Aztecs are scheduled to compete in the pre-qualifying rounds of the ITA All-American Championships, starting on Saturday, Oct. 2, while others will represent SDSU at the Wildcat Invitational, Oct 1-3, in Tucson, Arizona.