One month ago, the San Diego State women’s tennis team appeared to be in trouble.
After opening the season with back-to-back wins, SDSU dropped three of its next four matches and fell to No. 54 in FILA college tennis rankings.
During that stretch, the Aztecs were swept by USC and Cal and lost for the first time in their 27 matches to Long Beach State.
And, on Feb. 23, SDSU’s players sat on the courts at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif., after yet another loss, this time a 4-3 defeat to Pepperdine, listening to their head coach try to rally the troops.
“I sat them down right after that loss and told them that we were going to be just fine,” head coach Peter Mattera said. “That was our breakthrough moment. It showed me and the players that we can be a fantastic team.
“I told them that even though our record didn’t show it, we could play with anyone.”
Now, 30 days, six wins and 18 higher spots in the polls later, Mattera looks like a prophet. SDSU is back on track heading into a series of three matches to open Mountain West Conference play at 9 a.m. this Friday against Utah in Las Vegas.
During March, the Aztecs have gone undefeated to bring their record to 9-4, while their overall ranking has risen to No. 36 (the team has been ranked as high as No. 29 during this stretch).
During the run, SDSU has defeated three top-40 teams and junior Alesya Vidov was named MWC Tennis Player of the Week.
But it’s been the underclassmen on the team who have carried the resurgence.
Of the six starters, four are freshmen or sophomores. The team has just one senior, Dita Hauerlandova, and one junior, Vidov.
And Mattera is no more surprised with the success of his young players than he was at the turnaround of his young team.
“It was pretty obvious that if were going to do anything, we would need the underclassmen to step up,” Mattera said. “But I fully expected them to be ready for this challenge. We recruit kids who can step in and play now, and it’s been nice to be proven right about our recruits.”
The most notable of these recruits is freshman standout Esther Cadua, who has started her first year with a 10-3 record.
After the match with Utah, the Aztecs will face No. 23 BYU at 10 a.m. on Saturday and UNLV at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
