San Diego State men’s tennis (5-10, 1-2 Mountain West Conference)) narrowly fell to both the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels (12-11, 1-2 MWC) and Utah State University Aggies (8-10, 2-1 MWC), 4-3, over the weekend.
On both days the Aztecs managed to secure the doubles point but would find singles play to be a lot tougher.
Versus UNLV
The duo of senior Joe Tyler and junior Victor Castro won the first doubles game 6-2, while the duo of sophomore Judson Blair and freshman Alexander Mandma dropped their game, 7-5.
The doubles point came down to the pair of sophomores Johannes Seeman and Roni Rikkonen who defeated senior Jordan Sauer and sophomore Jackson Atherton, 7-6 (7-2), in a thrilling match.
In singles play, UNLV turned the tide. The Rebels would go on to win four of the remaining six singles games.
The only Aztecs to come away with singles wins were Seeman — who defeated senior Zac Brodney 6-1, 6-2 — and Blair, who defeated sophomore Anton Ornberg in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
Despite nearly getting swept in singles, the Aztecs still had a chance to win the match.
Tied at 3-3, the final point came down to Mandma’s singles matchup.
In an extremely back-and-forth match that lasted over two hours, Mandma eventually fell to junior Milos Dabic in three sets, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Versus Utah State
Yet again, The Aztecs opened doubles play firing.
Blair and Mandma were first off the board with a 6-2 win over graduate student Felipe Acosta and freshman Sergi Mico Fenollar. The duo of Tyler and Castro clinched the doubles point for the Aztecs after a 6-4 victory over juniors David Ciemy and Bodin Zarkovic.
But much like in the previous match, the Aztecs would be put through a highly competitive round of singles matches.
Both teams went back and forth with the Aztecs winning two of the first three singles matches, but the Aggies fought back and won the final three singles matches to win the game.
The Aggies were first to record a point when junior Roko Savin defeated sophomore Jules Auffry, 6-0, 6-1.
The Aztecs struck back as Blair followed up his doubles win with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over junior Javier Ruiz.
Tyler earned the Aztecs’ third and final point of the day against Zarkovic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
The Aggies’ three-straight singles wins began with Acosta earning a clutch 7-5, 6-0 win against Mandma.
Next, Ciemy eked out a three-set thriller against Seeman, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, to tie the score at three.
Yet again, the Aztecs’ fate came down to the final singles match.
In an intense duel, Castro fell just short to Mico Fenollar in a three-set thriller — 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, a heartbreaking end to two hard-fought matches by the Aztecs.
The Aztecs have three games left before the Mountain West Conference Championships commence on April 29 at the U.S Air Force Academy in Colorado.
Next, the Aztecs will honor their seniors in their final home game of the season against the University of New Mexico on April 16 at 11 a.m.
