San Diego State men’s tennis defeated UC Davis 4-0 on Feb. 28 at the Aztec Tennis Center.
The Aggies took an initial lead in doubles, but SDSU overcame the early deficit to secure the doubles point thanks to scrappy come-from-behind work.
After being down 3-0 to begin the set, senior Rafael Gonzales Almazan and junior Ignacio Martinez battled back to down the Aggies’ duo of senior David Goulak and junior Ivan Tharma 6-3.
Aztec seniors Fabian Roensdorf and Arnaud Restifo saw similar success in doubles play as they held off a late surge from sophomore Daniel Landa and freshman Andrei Volgin to secure a 6-3 win.
However, Aggies junior Dariush Jalali and freshman Andras Necz prevented an SDSU sweep by defeating juniors Aaro Pollanen and Jan Kirchoff 6-4.
SDSU head coach Gene Carswell was impressed by his team’s performance and how the squad swung the momentum back.
“That doubles point could have gone either way,” Carswell said. “Our guys fought tooth and nail… I think it’s really a credit to our guys and just how they competed their tails off today.”
With a 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles matches, all the Aztecs needed were three wins in singles play to lift them to victory.
SDSU senior David Hough got the team off on the right foot as he defeated UC Davis junior Arjith Jayaraman by final scores of 6-2 and 6-4 in his only match of the day.
Fresh off of a doubles win and looking for more was Roensdorf. The Dortmund, Germany native was locked in an intense match with Tharma, but Roensdorf prevailed after a spirited 7-5, 6-4 set.
With the Aggies on the ropes, the Aztecs needed one more victory to secure the win. The knockout blow was landed by Restifo, who defeated Volgin 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to send UC Davis packing.
After the match, Roensdorf went into detail on the fervent singles match he played against Tharma.
“It was like a rollercoaster match,” Roensdorf said. “In the end, I guess I got a little more fortunate and was a little bit tougher mentally.”
SDSU will finish its weekend on the road as they take on UC Santa Barbara on March 1. The Aztecs will attempt to break a three-game losing streak against the Gauchos.
