SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's tennis returns home for their final homestand of the 2023 season this weekend when they play host to UNLV on Friday, as well as No. 67 Fresno State on Sunday for senior day. First serve for both matches will be at 10 a.m. PT.
The Season So Far
San Diego State heads into the two matches with a 12-5 overall record and ranked 42nd nationally in the latest ITA rankings that was released on Tuesday morning. Last weekend SDSU continued Mountain West Conference play with a second consecutive weekend sweep in Laramie, Wyoming, beating No. 61 Colorado State 4-2, and Wyoming, 4-1. The two wins improved SDSU's record in conference play to 5-1 and puts them in a tie for first place in the standings with Air Force and Wyoming. SDSU is currently on a four match winning streak and have won eight of their last 10 matches dating back to the beginning of March.
So far this season the Aztecs have knocked off five teams that have been ranked in the ITA rankings, including two weeks ago when they beat No. 37 Purdue, 4-3. SDSU has also won three matches in extremely close fashion, all by an identical scoreline of 4-3. The Aztecs beat Purdue, Tulsa, and Furman by that margin, and of their 10 wins on the year, four have been decided by just one point as the Scarlet and Black also took down Alabama 4-3 in their home opener. The Aztecs win over Alabama was head coach Peter Mattera's 400th career victory on The Mesa.
Picking Up Steam
Three different Aztecs have won Mountain West women's tennis player of the week in four of the last five weeks. Both Andjela Skrobonja and Dariya Detkovskaya earned the honors earlier in the month, while Tamara Arnold joined the list last week for her play in the weekend sweep of Utah State and Boise State. The latest to earn the honor for the second time was Skrobonja, a transfer from Florida International University, who was named MW player of the week for a second time on Tuesday, after a 4-0 weekend and two team wins over No. 61 Colorado State and Wyoming last time out.
On the season, Skrobonja has posted an 11-3 record with doubles partner Detkovskaya since the two of them have been paired together, and a 2-0 record in Mountain West play. As for singles play, Skrobonja is 10-4 entering this week's matches. The junior has led the Aztecs to four wins in a row, all on the road, while playing consistently the top competition from throughout the Mountain West.
Detkovskaya has been just as good for the Aztecs, and has started 11-2 in singles play. She has won eight of her 13 matches in straight sets, including four of her past six matches. Additionally, Detkovskaya has wins over three power five programs' individuals this spring. The senior beat No. 17 in the nation Snow Han of USC in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 12-10, to begin the season, Ole Pitak of Alabama in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 a week later, and most recently topped Katja Wiersholm of Cal in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8.
Tamara Arnold has also played well recently in conference play. The senior has played consistently at the No.1 or No. 2 spots in the rotation all season, has posted an 8-5 record in dual play in singles, and has won four out of her last five singles matches. She has also beaten opponents from ranked teams including Alabama and Rice so far this season.
Scouting UNLV and Fresno State
UNLV heads into this weekend's match 12-3 overall and in sole possession of second place in the conference standings, at 4-2 and just a match behind the three leaders. The Rebels are led by Molly Helgesson and Salsa Aher who are a combined 19-6 across courts one, two, and three throughout dual season. As for Fresno State, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 67 in the latest ITA team rankings and are 9-9 overall and 3-3 in Mountain West play so far this season. The Bulldogs have played nine ranked teams including Texas who was No. 1 in the country at the time the two squads met.