When the San Diego State men’s tennis team faced No. 40 Boise State on Saturday, the match was shortened because of flight arrangements.As time was of the essence, the game only featured singles matches.But the match was not the only abridged part of Saturday’s 5-1 loss at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, Idaho – SDSU’s roster featured far fewer players than usual.Both sophomores Juan Gomez and Achim Ceban were suspended for their inappropriate actions against Rice last Monday.”I’ve suspended them from team competition until I’m certain from them that they’re going to compete and handle themselves in a way that we require of all of our men’s tennis players,” head coach Gene Carswell said.The Broncos (9-8) took advantage of the handicapped Aztecs (5-5) and extended their home undefeated streak to 7-0.But SDSU still battled, even without two of their best players. Junior Bartosz Golas bounced back from a disappointing home match against Rice to defeat No. 55 Clancy Shields 6-4, 6-2. Meanwhile, sophomore Matan Shitrit moved all the way up to the No.1 singles spot to face Shields’ brother, No. 59 Luke, falling by the slimmest of margins.”The team fought hard,” Carswell said. “Matan had a war at the top against a nationally ranked opponent. We were very competitive with that team.” Even though the Aztecs lost a difficult match, they may have found a new starter in sophomore Jordan Colman. Colman was put in the No. 5 singles spot thanks to Ceban and Gomez’s absences, and was victorious in one of two matches over the weekend.”He’s shown me that on any given day I can rely upon him,” Carswell said. “(I can) plug him into the singles lineup and give us what we need.”Colman was happy with the opportunity to start and was encouraged by his performance.”I honestly think that we had this team,” Colman said. “I was happy with my performance but it’s kind of bitter sweet. There were definitely a lot more positives that I can take out of that match than negatives.”On Friday freshman Danny Heidecker dismantled Idaho’s Hugh McDonald 6-0 in both sets and helped lead SDSU to a 7-0 victory over the Vandals (10-9).The shutout marked the second time this season that the Aztecs have held their opponent scoreless.”We had some guys in the lineup that hadn’t played much,” Carswell said. “Everyone came out and represented well with what we like to call some Aztec pride.”
MEN’S TENNIS: Boise State takes advantage of Aztecs’ depleted roster in Idaho
by Staff
•
March 9, 2008
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