On Saturday, Feb. 26, the San Diego State men’s tennis team (3-5) split their pair of home games, falling 4-3 to No. 46 Gonzaga University (7-1) before winning 6-1 versus Pomona-Pitzer College (2-2) later in the day.
With the win against Pomona-Pitzer, the Aztecs ended a tough five-game losing streak.
Versus Gonzaga
At 11 a.m. the Aztecs took the court to compete against Gonzaga — No. 46 in the ITA NCAA Rankings.
Coming into the game with four straight losses, the Aztecs almost pulled off a huge win against the Bulldogs but barely fell short.
SDSU started off strongly with the duo of freshman Alexander Mandma and senior Joe Tyler winning a hard-fought 6-3 battle over sophomore Sasha Trkulja and junior Matthew Hollingsworth. Aztec junior Victor Castro and sophomore Johannes Seeman would clinch the doubles point for the Aztecs, where they also won 6-3 against juniors Leon Roider and Oliver Andersson. SDSU’s duo of sophomores Jules Auffray and Judson Blair were winning their matchup, 5-4, but the match did not finish.
Unfortunately, unlike doubles, singles didn’t go the Aztecs’ way.
Tyler started the Aztecs off with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Trkulja. The Bulldogs would then go on to pick up the next four singles points.
Seeman battled Hollingsworth but eventually fell 6-4, 6-0. Castro took Andersson to three sets but also fell 6-3, 3-6, 1-6. Mandma then gave the Bulldogs their third singles win after losing 6-0, 6-4 versus freshman Arthus De La Bassetiere.
The Bulldogs clinched the match when graduate student Tom Hann defeated Auffray 6-0, 6-4. The Aztecs eventually won their third point as Blair took down Rodier in two sets 6-2, 7-5, but it was too little too late.
“We were knocking on the door of winning that match, we won the doubles point and half of the first sets in singles. We had enough points to close the door and I still felt like even in our matches where we dropped the first set we had opportunities to climb ourselves back into matches,” head coach Gene Carswell said. “So definitely disappointed with not getting that one. I felt that that one would have been a nice win for our group.”
Versus Pomona-Pitzer
After a hard-fought match against the nationally-ranked Bulldogs, the Aztecs then took on the Sagehens at 4 p.m.
Yet again, the Aztecs swept the doubles point. Tyler and Mandma combined for their second win of the day with a 6-0 win over Jansen Comadena and Owen Kelley. Castro and Seeman again clinched the point with a 6-2 win versus Mukund Madabhushi and Charlie Stark. Sophomore Roni Rikkonen and Blair were also up in their doubles match, 5-2, before, yet again, the final doubles match was stopped before it finished.
For singles, Tyler continued his solid play winning every single one of his matches after he dominated Hayden Snyder 6-2, 6-0.
Madabhushi won the Sagehens only point of the day after defeating Castro 6-3 in the first set before Castro was forced to retire in the second set.
The rest of the Aztecs did a good job to close out the match, winning every remaining singles game.
Seeman won 6-4, 6-2 to put the Aztecs back on top. Mandma then won, 6-3, 6-2. Blair won his second singles match of the day 6-2, 6-4 and Rikkonen wrapped up the day with a 6-1, 6-2 win.
San Diego State will next take part in the prestigious Pacific Coast Doubles Championships set for March 4-6 at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.
“Great longstanding and traditional event down at the Beach and Tennis club. We’ve had a couple of teams in the past that have won it. It’s some of the best competition in the country,” Carswell said. “Real special event and an honor to be able to compete in it. Going to be some great doubles competition from all over the country. Just a great event with a long-standing history of great champions, you’ve got guys on that trophy like John McEnroe and Arthur Mash that have won it in the past.”
After the Aztecs hopefully have names from their 2021-22 roster engraved onto the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship trophy, they will then face the Utah Utes on Sunday, Mar. 6. At 10 a.m.
