SAN DIEGO – This week, the San Diego State men's tennis team will head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Championship tournament. In Wednesday night's quarterfinals, the sixth seeded Aztecs will take on the third seeded No. 72 Boise State Broncos at 5 p.m. PT.
Last Saturday, April 22, the Scarlet and Black (3-14, 1-5) finished its regular season on a high note with a 4-2 win at Air Force to pass the Falcons in the standings.
San Diego State showcased its depth against Air Force, earning wins at the third, fourth and fifth spots in the singles lineup. On court No. 3, Bora Sengul (2-10) took down Justin Waldman 6-3, 6-3. Alexander Mandma (5-6) defeated Nick Vroman in a tight match on the fourth court 6-2, 7-6 (12-10). Last week's Mountain West Freshman of the Week Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (5-7) rattled off his fourth consecutive win in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jack Brown on court No. 5. The Aztecs also took the doubles point. On the top court Johannes Seeman and Chikaya Sato beat Jonathan Mascagni and Arjun Kersten 6-2. Mandma and Sengul defeated Waldman and Vroman 6-4 on the second court.
The No. 72-ranked Broncos (18-7, 3-3) finished the regular season on a three-match losing streak. On April 14, they lost 4-3 to No. 73 New Mexico at home. On Thursday, April 20, Boise State was shutout at Nevada, 4-0. They finished the season with a 4-3 home loss to Utah State on Saturday, April 22.
Boise State is led by Simon Arca Costas, who boasts a perfect 20-0 dual record. Other Broncos who have reached double digit dual wins are John Chin (13-3), James Van Herzeele (13-7) and Ryo Minakata (11-6). The team's three doubles pairings the last time out were Michael Bott/Arca Costas (19-5), Jan Lucca Marquardt/Minakata (5-2), and Sam Sippel/Caden Moortgat (1-5).
The teams met at the Aztec Tennis Center on April 2. That day, the No. 63-ranked Broncos took down SDSU 4-2.
The only time these teams have previously met in the Mountain West Championship was in the semifinal round in 2016, when Boise State won 4-2.
You can follow the action on the tournament homepage: themw.com/sports/2023/1/23/2023_mten_championship.aspx.
With a win, San Diego State would play in the semifinal round at the same time the following day. SDSU would face the winner of second seeded Nevada and seventh seeded Air Force.
Aztecs Open MW Tournament Against No. 72 Boise State
