SAN DIEGO – On Monday, the Mountain West Conference announced its 25th Season Team for men's tennis. San Diego State led the conference with eight total players: five singles players and three doubles pairings. San Diego State's singles players to earn the honor are Thorsten Bertsch, Markus Dickhardt, Freddy Gelbrich, Oliver Maiberger and Alex Waske. SDSU also had three of the conference's five doubles teams with Dickhardt/Christian Groh, Maiberger/Ryan Redondo and Dickhardt/Benedikt Stronk.
Bertsch (2012-15) earned All-Mountain West honors in both singles and doubles for three straight seasons between 2012 and 2014. Bertsch is one of just two Aztecs to win conference player of the week honors in four different seasons as he brought home the award three times in 2013 and once each in 2012, 2014 and 2015. Off the court, Bertsch earned Academic All-Conference accolades in 2015. He ranks tenth in school history with 68 career singles victories.
A true Aztec star on and off the court, Dickhardt (2004-07) was named All-Mountain West in singles, Academic All-Mountain West and a Mountain West Scholar Athlete in each of his four seasons on The Mesa. Dickhardt got off to an early start by winning Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2004 and went out on top as Mountain West Player of the Year in 2007. He matched a school record in 2007 by winning conference player of the week honors four times in a season to go with one each in 2005 and 2006. Dickhardt joined Felix Hardt as the only Aztecs to be named CSC Academic All-District when he accomplished the feat in 2007. He ranks fourth in career victories at 82, sixth in career winning percentage at 69.5% and his 2007 campaign is ninth with 26 wins. Dickhardt also finds himself third in career doubles wins at 71.
The 2015 Mountain West Player of the Year, Gelbrich (2012, 14-16) was all-conference in both singles and doubles that season and followed it up by earning All-Mountain West Singles accolades again the following season. Off the court, Gelbrich was named Academic All-Mountain West in both 2015 and 2016. He remains the only Aztec in the last decade to win Conference Player of the Week three times in a season, doing so in 2015 and earning his fourth career award in 2016. Gelbrich and Hendrik Jebens rank third in career doubles wins with 32 and eighth in singles season doubles wins at 19. Gelbrich's career individual doubles marks are amongst the best in school history with 50 wins (ninth) and a 66.7% winning percentage (seventh).
Maiberger (2000-03) is the only men's tennis player in the Aztec Hall of Fame and is likely the greatest men's tennis player in school history. He was an All-American for singles three years in a row from 2001 to 2003 and was an All-American in doubles as well in 2002 and 2003. Maiberger went from the ITA Regional Player to Watch in 2001 to the ITA Regional Senior Player of the Year in 2003. He earned conference player of the year honors in each of his final three seasons on The Mesa. In addition to earning All-Mountain West accolades in singles in all four seasons and doubles honors from 2001-03, Maiberger was also named Academic All-Mountain West in each of his four seasons. He led the team in singles and doubles wins in all four seasons and set a school record with 12 Mountain West Player of the Week awards over that time. Maiberger holds school records for singles in career wins (111), career winning percentage (79.9%) the top two single season winning percentages (89.3% & 84.4%). He also made the NCAA Championships as an individual in each of his seasons.
Waske (1998-2000) was only in the Mountain West for his final season, 2000. That year, he was the first player in school history to be named an All-American for singles in addition to being the first Aztec to win Mountain West Player of the Year in the conference's inaugural season. Waske was All-Mountain West for singles, doubles and academics that season, earning three player of the week awards. He ranks second in career winning percentage at 79.3% and competed in the NCAA Championships in each of his three seasons as an Aztec.
Dickhardt and Groh (2005-07) were named All-Mountain West for doubles in 2007, when the pair led the team with 14 wins.
Maiberger and Redondo (2002-03) were named All-Americans and All-Mountain West in both seasons they played together. The duo's 59 wins together is 23 ahead of the next best Aztec doubles team. The pair places sixth all time in winning percentage (min. 20 decisions) at 77.6% and holds two of the top three winningest seasons in school history with 31 and 28.
Dickhardt and Stronk (2005-06) earned All-American and all-conference honors in 2006 for leading the team with 16 wins, the tenth most wins in a season in school history. The combo has the eighth best winning percentage in school history at 77.3%.
The fourth-seeded Aztecs begin the Mountain West Championships at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, in Las Vegas. SDSU will play against fifth-seeded Nevada in the opening round.
Mountain West All-25-Year Men's Tennis Team
SINGLES-
1. Shannon Buck, Air Force
2. Tyler McClung, Air Force
3. Andy Bettles, Boise State
4. Kyle Butters, Boise State
5. Zdenek Derkas, Fresno State
6. Moez Chargui, Nevada
7. Victor Ouvrard, Nevada
8. Matt Amgwerd, New Mexico
9. Arda Azkara, New Mexico
10. Divan Coetzee, New Mexico
11. Johnny Parkes, New Mexico
12. Thorsten Bertsch, San Diego State
13. Markus Dickhardt, San Diego State
14. Freddy Gelbrich, San Diego State
15. Oliver Maiberger, San Diego State
16. Alex Waske, San Diego State
17. Jakob Amilon, UNLV
18. Medhi Bouras, UNLV
19. Christopher Bulus, UNLV
20. Alexandr Cozbinov, UNLV
21. Henner Nehles, UNLV
22. Thomas Schneiter, UNLV
23. Elliot Wronski, UNLV
24. Zack Ganger, Utah
25. Jaime Barajas, Utah State
DOUBLES-
1. Ryan Stotland/David Kowalski, New Mexico
2. Markus Dickhardt/Christian Groh, San Diego State
3. Oliver Maiberger/Ryan Redondo, San Diego State
4. Benedikt Stronk/Markus Dickhardt, San Diego State
5. Rafael Abreu/Jordan Freitas, TCU