Fresh off impressive performances in their most recent tournaments, the men’s and women’s tennis teams competed in the U.S. Tennis Association Regionals.
The women’s tennis team, competed in the UTSA/ITA Southwest Regionals, looking to build momentum after a strong performance at the recent SDSU Fall Classic I. The first day of regionals, held at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, went well for the Aztecs, as they won eight matches. Days two and three were more of a struggle. Junior Julia Wais, ranked 90th in the nation, and sophomore Laura Antonana Iriarte dropped their singles matches in the round of 16. However, the fifth-seeded duo of Wais and senior Alicia Aguilar dominated their doubles match against Ali Facey and Sarah Gong from the University of California, Irvine, 8-2, to advance to day three.
Because of rainy weather at the Barnes Tennis Center, the final day of action was held at the Aztec Tennis Center. At SDSU’s home court, Wais and Aguilar defeated University of San Diego’s doubles team, 8-4. Unfortunately, the Aztec duo faced the top- ranked team from UCLA in the quarterfinals and lost a tough match, 8-2.
The women’s team will compete in the SDSU Fall Classic II next on Nov. 9 at the Aztec Tennis Center.
The men’s tennis team also competed as part of the UTSA/ITA West Regionals at the Anteater Tennis Stadium in Irvine. On day one, the men earned five match victories, including 13th-seeded sophomore Thorsten Bertsch’s great performance against Loyola Marymount University’s Nick Northcott. Bertsch defeat Northcott, 6-1, 6-1. The hero of the Aztec Fall Invite, sophomore Andranik Khachatryan, dropped his first match against Arizona’s Kieren Thompson, 6-3, 6-4.
Khachatryan worked his way to the consolation bracket semifinals, gaining a thrilling quarterfinal victory against University of Southern California’s top freshman recruit and runner-up in the Aztec Fall Invite “A” Flight, Max de Vroome, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. However, Khachatryan lost in the semifinals to the eventual consolation bracket champion, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Marco Comuzzo, 6-3, 6-3.
Bertsch advanced to the round of 16, where he defeated 2012’s Big West Freshman of the Year, Jacob Jung of UCI, 6-1, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Bertsch lost a hard-fought match against USC’s Eric Johnson, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. The Aztecs picked up nine total wins on the weekend, including all eight players earning at least one win.
The men compete next from Nov. 8-11 at the ITA Indoor Individual Championships in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
