RENO, Nev. – Riding a two-match win streak and with a chance to grab a portion of the Mountain West regular-season crown, the San Diego state men's tennis team stumbled on Saturday at McArthur Tennis Center in Reno, Nev., and fell 4-1 to the Nevada Wolf Pack in both team's regular season finale.
The win for Nevada (13-5, 5-1 Mountain West) gives them the outright league title and the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament, while the Aztecs (7-11, 3-3 Mountain West) will be the 4-seed and will face the 5-seed Air Force in the opening round.
In the doubles competition, the teams split the first two matches.
At the No. 3 position, Judson Blair and Alexander Mandma bettered the Wolf Pack's Daniel Dudockin and Juan Baralia, 7-5, to extend their win streak to a team-best three matches. However, that victory came after the No. 1 pair of Joe Tyler and Victor Castro fell to Matheo Coupu and Delams N'Tcha, 6-4. In the deciding match, Johannes Seeman and Roni Rikkonen were downed 7-6 (5) by Nevada's Loris Zisswiller and Satchel Benn to send the competition to singles with the Wolf Pack up 1-0.
San Diego State dropped the first singles match, at the No. 6 position, between Jules Auffray and UNR's Ziswiller in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, to go down 2-0, but got the point back from Mandma.
In the No. 4 position, the freshman from Tallinn, Estonia, who secured the Aztecs victory over Boise State on Thursday, took down Benn 6-3, 6-3 to trim the Wolf Pack lead in half, 2-1. Mandma is now 6-7 on the year at that position and finishes the regular season with a 3-2 conference record.
Castro then tied the match up with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Nevada's Delmas N'Tcha. It was his third straight win at the No. 3 position and improved his Mountain West record to 3-2 this year.
However, from there the Wolf Pack used a pair of three-set wins to close out San Diego State.
Nevada's Dudockin topped Blair 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, at No. 5 and Seeman, at the No. 2 position, grabbed his first set against Juan Batalia, 7-5, but then dropped the next two by scores of 6-1 and 6-4.
Tyler and Coupu were tied in the third 3-3 but did not finish their match. Coupu won the first set 7-5 and Tyler took two second 6-3.
Nevada 4, San Diego State 2
McArthur Tennis Center—Reno, Nev.
April 23, 2022
Doubles
1. Matheo Coupu/Delmas N'Tcha (NEV) def. Joe Tyler/Victor Castro (SDSU) 6-4
2. Loris Zisswiller/Satchel Benn (NEV) def. Johannes Seeman/Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) 7-6 (5)
3. Judson Blair/Alexander Mandma (SDSU) def. Daniel Dudockin/Juan Batalia (NEV) 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
NEV wins doubles point
Singles
1. Joe Tyler (SDSU) vs. Matheo Coupu (NEV) 7-5, 3-6, 3-3 unfinished
2. Juan Batalia (NEV) def. Johannes Seeman (SDSU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
3. Victor Castro (SDSU) def. Delmas N'Tcha (NEV) 6-4, 6-3
4. Alexander Mandma (SDSU) def. Satchel Benn (NEV) 6-3, 6-3
5. Daniel Dudockin (NEV) def. Judson Blair (SDSU) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
6. Loris Zisswiller (NEV) def. Jules Auffray (SDSU) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 3, 5, 2*
* - Match-clinching victory
-SDSU-