SAN DIEGO – This week, the San Diego State women's tennis team is in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Championships. The second-seeded Aztecs will open their tournament in the Quarterfinals against tenth-seeded Utah State at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 25, at the Darling Tennis Center.
No. 62-ranked San Diego State (13-6, 7-2 Mountain West) is the Mountain West's lone ranked team. SDSU fell at UNLV 4-3 last week to close out the regular season. The Aztecs are led by Mountain West Player of the Year and All-Mountain West selection No. 97-ranked Yasmine Kabbaj (12-2) and No. 98 Andjela Skrobonja (15-2), another all-conference selection. Kabbaj has dominated this season, earning ten of her 12 wins in straight sets and holding a perfect 5-0 conference record. Meanwhile, Skrobonja has earned a victory in 15 of her last 16 matches including wins in all six conference matches. In doubles, Skrobonja and Andreea Velcea were named All-Mountain West and won their 11th consecutive match to improve to 11-0 when playing on the second court. Kabbaj and Myah Petchey were also named all-conference and won six of seven Mountain West matches.
SDSU holds a 12-9 record in the Quarterfinals of the Mountain West Championships including two wins in its last three matches.
The Aztecs have earned the second seed on two occasions in the Mountain West Championships, going a combined 5-1 as the No. 2 seed. The last time SDSU had the second seed, in 2003, it went on to win the tournament, taking down Utah, New Mexico and BYU. The other time the Aztecs were second, 2001, they beat Air Force and Colorado State to advance to the championship game, where they lost to BYU.
Utah State (5-16, 1-9) beat Fresno State 4-2 in the First Round to snap a five-match losing streak. The Aztecs coasted to a 4-2 win at Utah State when the two met this season. The only time the two teams faced off previously in the tournament, the Aggies knocked off the Aztecs 4-2 in the First Round back in 2017.
All Mountain West Championships matches will be streamed on Playsight (https://tinyurl.com/3vf65dk4) with live stats available on iOnCourt (https://tinyurl.com/z2659h6a).
With a win on Thursday, San Diego State will advance to the Semifinals and play the winner of third-seeded Wyoming and sixth-seeded Colorado State. Wyoming (16-9, 7-3) finished the regular season with a 4-2 win at Colorado State. The Aztecs shutout the Cowgirls 4-0 in the teams' meeting this season. SDSU has a 2-3 record against the Cowgirls in the conference tournament. Colorado State (10-11, 5-5) defeated Air Force in the First Round 4-0. The Aztecs defeated the Rams 4-1 this season. San Diego State is a perfect 5-0 all-time against CSU in the Mountain West Championships. The Aztecs have historically been strong in the Semifinals and hold an 8-4 record in the round.
[2] Aztecs Start MW Championships vs. [10] Utah State
