The No. 57 San Diego State Aztecs notched their sixth win of the season by overwhelming the University of the Pacific Tigers 4-2 on Saturday at the Hal Nelson Tennis Courts in Stockton.
The Aztecs (6-3, 3-0 MW) put themselves into a quick hole as they dropped the doubles point to the Tigers, losing two of the three matches. Senior Hunter Nicholas and junior Thorsten Bertsch faltered to Pacific’s sophomore Marlon Brand and Daniel Alameh, 8-5, in the No. 1 doubles slot. Redshirt sophomore Freddy Gelbrich and freshman Hendrik Jebens continued their doubles dominance with four straight victories after defeating sophomore Sem Verbeek and freshman Miguel Diaz, 8-7 (3), in the No. 2 doubles spot.
Unfortunately, Aztecs senior Juan Florez and freshman Milen Ianakiev fell to Pacifics No. 3 duo of juniors Erik Cederwall and Alex Hamilton, 8-7 (3), to go into singles play down 1-0.
SDSU won the first match in singles, with Bertsch ending his individual losing streak at three matches in No. 1 singles play by surmounting 95th-ranked Verbeek, 6-3, 7-5. However, No. 124th-ranked Gelbrich was defeated in straight sets to Pacifics junior Denis Stolyarov, 6-2, which currently puts him on a three-match individual losing streak in the No. 3 slot.
The Aztecs finished the match by sweeping the bottom half of singles play, as Jebens edged out Diaz, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the No. 4 spot, sophomore Maxi Boewer-Stelter defeated Pacific’s junior Ben Mirkin in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (1) in No. 5 singles, and Florez easily crushed Hamilton, 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 6 slot. Both Boewer-Stelter and Florez continued their singles winning streaks to three apiece.
The match between Nicholas and Alameh in the No. 2 singles play didn’t finish as SDSU had already sealed the match.
This was the last of a seven-consecutive match road trip, where the Aztecs won four of the seven matches including four of the last five. SDSU returns home on Thursday, Feb. 27 to play Oklahoma State University at the Aztec Tennis Center.
Photo by Jonathan Bonpua, Staff Photographer
