SDSU MEN'S TENNIS DOWNED BY NO. 4 OKLAHOMA STATE 4-0

Aztecs fall to 5-7 in dual matches this season

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo:  Sander Gjoels Andersen competed in doubles and singles Sunday at No. 4 Oklahoma State.  Courtesy goaztecs.com

March 12, 2017 (Stillwater, Okla.) - Facing its highest-ranked opponent since January 2016, the San Diego State men’s tennis team had its hands full against No. 4 Oklahoma State Sunday, dropping a 4-0 decision in a non-conference dual match at Greenwood Tennis Center. With the setback, the Aztecs fall to 5-7 overall, while the Cowboys, boasting three nationally ranked singles players and two doubles tandems, won their fifth straight to improve to 13-3 on the season.

The SDSU doubles team of junior Santiago Cevallos and sophomore Sander Gjoels-Andersen was the first to experience OSU’s might, coming up on the short end of a 6-2 score against No. 71 Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza in the second position. Shortly thereafter, the Aztec freshman combo of Joel Popov and Rafael Gonzalez Almazan suffered the identical fate against Lukas Finzelberg and Artur Dubinski on court three. Over on center court, the SDSU seniors Marko Goles-Babic and Milen Ianakiev found themselves in a tight battle with third-ranked Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe, trailing just 5-4 when the match was abandoned.

In singles play, the Aztecs extended one match to three sets and held a lead in the second set of two others, but not before the Cowboys reeled off three consecutive wins to clinch the dual. Goles-Babic was dealt a 6-2, 6-2 defeat by the 22nd-ranked Cash at the top of the ladder, while Gjoels-Andersen was dismissed in similar fashinon by 62nd-ranked Finzelberg, 6-3, 6-3 in third spot. Shortly thereafter, Cevallos by toppled by Dubinski in the fourth position, 6-4, 6-4.

Over on court two, Ianakiev gave 54th-ranked Kadhe all he could handle, winning the second set, 6-4, after dropping the first, 6-2. However, two players were deadlocked at 1-1 in set three when the encounter was halted. In addition, Popov led OSU’s Tristan Meraut, 2-1, in the second set after falling in a tiebreaker to open the match at No. 5, while Gonzalez Almazan was in front of the Cowboys’ Nathan Roper in the second set at No. 6, 4-3, after dropping the first, 6-4.

San Diego State will return home to face three to-be-determined opponents next weekend when it plays host to the SD Invitational, March 16-18, at Aztec Tennis Center.

No. 4 Oklahoma State 4, San Diego State 0

March 12, 2017

Greenwood Tennis Center

Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles

1. #3 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OSU) vs. Marko Goles-Babic/Milen Ianakiev (SDSU), 5-4, DNF

2. #71 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Santiago Cevallos/Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU), 6-2

3. Lukas Finzelberg/Artur Dubinski (OSU) vs. Rafael Gonzalez Almazan/Joel Popov (SDSU), 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3

Oklahoma State wins doubles point

Singles

1. #22 Julian Cash (OSU) def.  Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU), 6-2, 6-2

2. #54 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) vs. Milen Ianakiev (SDSU), 6-2, 4-6, 1-1, DNF

3. #62 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) def. Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU), 6-3, 6-3

4. Artur Dubinski (OSU) def. Santiago Cevallos (SDSU), 6-4, 6-4

5. Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. Joel Popov (SDSU), 7-6, 1-2, DNF

6. Nathan Roper (OSU) vs. Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU), 6-4, 3-4, DNF

Order of finish: 1, 3, 4*

* - Match-clinching victory