SAN DIEGO – In its final appearance at the Aztec Tennis Center this season, the San Diego State men's tennis team hosts New Mexico in a Mountain West Conference dual match on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. PT.
The competition will mark the final appearance at the Aztec Tennis Center of senior Joe Tyler who is a graduate transfer from Iowa and competed for the Aztecs this season after receiving an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saturday, April 16
New Mexico at San Diego State – 11 a.m. PT
Aztec Tennis Center, San Diego, Calif.
Know This
• San Diego State is 5-10 overall and 1-2 in Mountain West Conference play entering this week's action.
• In a pair of conference matchups last week, at UNLV and against Utah State, SDSU dropped back-to-back 4-3 decisions.
• Joe Tyler has an 8-4 record (5-4 at No. 1 and 3-0 at No. 2) in dual match singles and is 14-8 overall. He is 7-7 in dual match doubles, all at No. 1 (5-3 w/ Victor Castro & 2-4 w/ Alexander Mandma). In his last singles outing he went to three sets against Utah State, a match he won, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
• Victor Castro has four appearances at No. 2 singles, the most on the squad, and is 1-3 at the spot. He is 3-4 at No. 2 and 0-1 at No. 3 with an overall dual match record of 4-8. In dual match doubles, he is 5-3 with Joe Tyler at No. 1 and 3-3 at No. 2 with Johannes Seeman. In his last two doubles outings, paired with Joe Tyler, he 2-0 with a 6-2 win at UNLV and a 6-4 victory against Utah State.
• Johannes Seeman has played at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles, and is 1-2, 1-4, and 3-1, respectively, at those spots. In doubles he has played with four partners. At No. 2, he is 3-3 with Victor Castro and 1-0 with Roni Rikkonen, 1-3 with Alexander Mandma, and 0-1 with Jules Auffray at No. 3. In his last completed doubles outing he and Rikkonen won 7-6 (2) at UNLV.
• Alexander Mandma with 4-9 in dual match singles with a 0-2 mark at No. 3 and 4-7 at No. 4. His 11 appearances at No. 4 are the team high at the spot and overall is one of three Aztecs to reach double-digit wins (10). In dual match doubles, he is 2-4 at No. 1 with Joe Tyler and 1-3 at No. 2 with Johannes Seeman. In his last doubles outing, he and Judson Blair defeated Utah State's Acosta/Fenollar, 6-2.
• Judson Blair has a dual match record of 7-7 which includes going 1-0 at No. 5 and 6-7 at No. 6. Last week he went 2-0 with 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-2 wins at UNLV and versus Utah State, respectively. He has played eight matches with Jules Auffray at No. 3 doubles, 2-6, and last week split a pair of No. 3 matches with Alexander Mandma. The pair fell at UNLV, 7-5, before picking up a 6-2 win against Utah State.
• Jules Auffray has competed 11 times in singles and compiled a 3-8 record. He is 1-0 at No. 4 and 2-8 at No. 5 after dropping a pair of straight set matches last week at UNLV and vs. Utah State. He has competed nine times at No. 3 doubles and has a 2-6 record with Judson Blair and 1-0 with Johannes Seeman.
• Roni Rikkonen is 2-2 in dual match singles at both No. 5 (1-1) and No. 6 (1-1). He has competed in dual match doubles competition twice, at UNLV and vs. Utah State, both with Johannes Seeman at No. 2. The pair has a 1-0 record with a 7-6 (2) win at UNLV.
• In his 19th year leading the San Diego State program, head coach Gene Carswell has amassed 226 career victories and has been named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year four times (2005, '06, '07 & '13).
New Mexico (7-11, 1-2 Mountain West)
• This will be the 44th meeting between these two programs, with the Aztecs holding a 23-20 advantage in the all-time series.
• Since the formation of the Mountain West conference, prior to the start of the 1999-2000 season, SDSU has won 17-of-32 meetings (17-15) and is 7-4 against the Lobos in San Diego.
• New Mexico is led by Arda Azkara (12-8 overall, 7-5 duals), who has a 7-4 record at No. 1 singles. Jan Pucalka and Georgia Samah are each 9-3 in duals, 9-2 at No. 5 and 8-3 at No. 6, respectively.
• Aztec head coach Gene Carswell, who took control of the program in the 2004 season, has a 12-12 record against New Mexico, which includes a 6-3 mark against the Lobos in San Diego.
-SDSU-