SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team opens its spring season at noon PT on Thursday, January 11, when it hosts the Brigham Young Cougars at the Aztec Tennis Center.
San Diego State returns all nine players from last year's roster including Johannes Seeman and Chikaya Sato, who were both all-Mountain West in both singles and doubles.
The Scarlet and Black also has a new addition to the 2024 squad: Robin Parts, who spent the past four seasons at Wisconsin and is one of three Estonians on the team. Parts was especially effective in doubles, tallying at least 18 doubles wins in each of his final two seasons as a Badger.
In the fall tournament season, the Aztecs were paced by Sato, Parts and Eugenio Gonzalez-Fitzmaurice, who each totaled five singles victories. Gonzalez-Fitzmaurice became the first player in school history to bring home conference freshman of the week honors, doing so on two occasions during the 2023 season. The doubles team of Parts and Alexander Mandma led SDSU with three wins in the fall.
Brigham Young is led by the nation's No. 35-ranked doubles tandem of Zach Fuchs and Wally Thayne. Brigham Young struggled to a 6-16 record a season ago but did earn a victory over No. 27-ranked San Diego.
The Aztecs lead the all-time series with Brigham Young 22-15 going back to 1989. The teams last met in January of 2018, when the Cougars won 4-2 at the Aztec Tennis Center.
Thursday's match is being live streamed: http://tinyurl.com/33h866d8.
Following Thursday's match, the Aztecs will head to Palm Desert, Calif., to play in the National Collegiate Tennis Classic. The tournament runs from January 12-14. The next dual matches for SDSU take place in the form of a doubleheader against Loyola Marymount and Sacramento State on Saturday, January 21, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Aztec Tennis Center.