SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team embarks on a season-long five-match road swing this weekend when it ventures to the Evergreen State to battle Portland and Washington in a pair of non-conference encounters.
The Aztecs will square off against the Pilots on Saturday, Feb. 5 in a neutral-site clash at UW's Nordstrom Tennis Center, starting at 1 p.m. PT, before remaining in Seattle to face the Huskies on Sunday, Feb. 6, beginning at 11 a.m.
A link to live scoring and streaming video for Sunday's SDSU-UW match will be available on GoAztecs.com.
The Aztecs are coming off an impressive 6-1 victory at home over UC San Diego in their 2022 dual match opener on Feb. 2, capturing the early doubles point before taking five of six singles matches.
Four players were double winners against the Tritons on Wednesday, including SDSU's 57th-ranked doubles team of Victor Castro and Joe Tyler, who raised their record to 8-2 on the year with a 6-2 triumph over Daniel Traxler and Phillip Lan in the No. 1 position.
In addition, Johannes Seeman and Alexander Mandma joined forces in the No. 2 spot and secured the doubles point for the Scarlet and Black with a 6-3 decision over UCSD's Zach Ermert and Eric Silberman.
Mandma, a freshman, later clinched the requisite fourth team point in singles, emerging triumphant in his dual-match debut with a 6-2, 6-2 conquest over Jett Cole, while Seeman dispatched Traxler by a 6-4, 6-3 count at the top of the ladder.
Along with Castro and Tyler, the Aztecs' other singles victory was recorded by Judson Blair, who collected his team-leading eighth win of the year with a 6-1, 6-2 thumping of the Tritons' Tristan Taylor.
Portland opened the spring season Jan. 29-30 in Fort Worth, Texas, suffering a 4-0 shutout at the hands of No. 4 TCU, before dropping a 4-1 decision to Wichita State as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Senior Sema Pankin owns the Pilots' lone singles victory of the year after defeating WSU's Orel Ovil at the No. 1 position. In addition, sophomore Niklolas Tveldt and freshman Julien Penzlin were triumphant in doubles against the Shockers with a 6-4 shaving of Ovil and Jackie Lin.
San Diego State has captured the two previous meetings vs. Portland, both on neutral courts. The Aztecs recorded a 7-0 whitewash in Tucson, Arizona, during the 2006 campaign before posting a 5-2 victory in Seattle on Feb. 23, 2019, which gave Gene Carswell his 200th win as SDSU head coach.
In addition to Saturday's match, the two teams will battle one another when the Pilots invade Aztec Tennis Center on Saturday, March 26.
On the flip side, Washington sports an unblemished 6-0 record this season, notching five of those wins at home. During that stretch, the Huskies defeated two additional Mountain West opponents with a 5-2 victory over Boise State on Jan. 17 and a 7-0 whitewash of Utah State on Jan. 28.
UW is led by Clement Chidekh, who boasts a 14-3 overall singles record, including a 3-0 mark in dual-match competition. Last fall, the Husky junior reached the semifinals of both the ITA All-American Championships and the ITA National Fall Championships, earning a No. 3 ITA ranking heading into this spring.
In addition, fellow classmate Ewen Lumsden has compiled a 12-3 ledger this season, including a 6-0 mark in dual matches rotating between the top three spots on Washington's ladder.
The Huskies feature three other players who are undefeated in four or more matches this spring, including Jack Davis (5-0), who has competed primarily in the No. 2 slot, while Nedim Suko (5-0) has seen action in the third, fourth and fifth positions. Elsewhere, Rikuto Yamaguchi (4-0) has rotated between the fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
In doubles play, Washington has utilized nine different tandems this spring, including the duo of Davis and Brandon Wong, who are 3-0 in dual matches at the top spot and 7-2 on the year.
The Aztecs have dropped seven straight to the Huskies, including a heart-breaking 4-3 decision in San Diego last season despite capturing the early doubles point. Seeman later added a huge 6-1, 6-4 victory over then-No. 83 Chidekh at No. 1 singles to give the Scarlet and Black a 2-1 lead. UW claimed the next two decisions, but Roni Rikkonen knotted the score with a straight-set triumph over Jack Pulliam in the fifth slot, 6-1, 7-6(5). However, the visitors escaped after the Huskies' Davis came away with a narrow victory at No. 3.
With that singles win, Seeman moved into the ITA singles rankings for the ensuing three weeks, climbing to No. 123 nationally.
After Sunday's action, San Diego State returns to the Golden State but will remain road warriors for three matches next weekend. The Aztecs will drive up to UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Feb. 11, before continuing north to San Luis Obispo, where they will face Loyola Marymount in another neutral-site affair on Saturday, Feb. 12, followed by a clash with host Cal Poly on Sunday, Feb. 13.