SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team went up against the No. 63-ranked Boise State Broncos at the Aztec Tennis Center on Sunday, April 2, the first Mountain West match of the season for SDSU. The Aztecs came back to win the doubles point and Johannes Seeman earned a victory on the top singles court, but Boise State won on the other singles courts in a 4-2 final.
The Scarlet and Black fall to 1-10 this season and 0-1 in conference play, while Boise State improves to 16-4 overall with a perfect 2-0 conference record.
"A good job from our Aztecs to secure the doubles point today after saving a few match points at the No. 2 doubles position," Head Coach Gene Carswell had to say after the match. "We dropped 5 of 6 first sets in singles, which isn't going to get the job done against good teams. Our top three singles players gave us a chance to get back into the match, with Johannes winning at No. 1 and Bora leading at a service break in the third set, 4-3. Unfortunately, Chikaya fell 6-3 in his third set to seal the match for Boise."
In doubles, on the third court, Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Mathieu Josserand lost to Jan Lucca Marquardt and Ryo Minakata 6-4 to give the Broncos an early advantage. However, the Aztecs came through when they needed it the most. On the top court, the team of Seeman and Chikaya Sato won 6-4 over Simon Arca Costas and Michael Bott. It all came down to the second court, where Alexander Mandma and Bora Sengul faced Idriss Haddouch and Caden Moortgat. The set was even at six games apiece and the tiebreaker was knotted at ten when the San Diego State pair won consecutive points to take it 7-6 (12-10) to earn the doubles point.
On the top singles court, Seeman (5-4) went up against Sam Sippel. He took both sets by the score of 6-4 to give San Diego State a 2-0 lead but it was all downhill from there for the Scarlet and Black.
Mandma (1-5) played on the No. 4 court and dropped both his sets to James Van Herzeele in a 6-1, 7-5 defeat.
On the sixth court, Andre Saleh (1-6) went up against Minakata but lost in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.
Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (1-5) played on the No. 5 court and, after he was bested 6-1 in the first set, kept the second competitive but was ultimately defeated 7-6 (4) by John Chin.
Playing on the No. 2 court, Sato (2-7) drew Arca Costas. After falling 6-3 in the first set, he stormed back to take the second 6-3 but lost by the same score in the third to end the match.
Sengul (0-7) faced Moortgat on the third court. He fell in the first set 6-4 but bounced back to take the second 6-3 and led 4-3 in the third when the match was decided.
Next week, San Diego State will host UNLV on Thursday, April 6, at 2 p.m. PT at the Aztec Tennis Center and then head to Logan, Utah, to face Utah State on Saturday, April 8, at Noon MT/11 a.m. PT.
No. 63 Boise State 4, San Diego State 2
Aztec Tennis Center – San Diego, Calif.
April 2, 2023
Singles Competition
1. Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Sam Sippel (Boise State) 6-4, 6-4
2. Simon Arca Costas (Boise State) def. Chikaya Sato (SDSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
3. Bora Sengul (SDSU) led Caden Moortgat (Boise State) 4-6, 6-3, 4-3
4. James Van Herzeele (Boise State) def. Alexander Mandma (SDSU) 6-1, 7-5
5. John Chin (Boise State) def. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (SDSU) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
6. Ryo Minakata (Boise State) def. Andre Saleh (SDSU) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. Johannes Seeman/Chikaya Sato (SDSU) def. Simon Arca Costas/Michael Bott (Boise State) 6-4
2. Alexander Mandma/Bora Sengul (SDSU) def. Idriss Haddouch/Caden Moortgat (Boise State) 7-6 (12-10)
3. Jan Lucca Marquardt/Ryo Minakata (Boise State) def. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice/Mathieu Josserand (SDSU) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,6,5,2)