Feb. 26, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Men's Tennis Weekly Release in PDF Format
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Aztecs Look to Break Losing Streak Against UC Irvine
  The 50th-ranked San Diego State men's tennis team (2-5) looks to break its five-match losing streak against No. 75 UC Irvine (3-4) on Thursday, March 1. The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. PST start at Aztec Tennis Center.
The Aztecs have struggled since their season-opening doubleheader sweep having lost five straight. SDSU unsuccessfully put an end to the skid as it dropped matches to No. 75 Oregon, 4-3, and No. 15 Washington, 6-1, in Seattle this past weeekend.
Immediately following the UC Irvine match, select Aztecs will compete in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship in La Jolla, Calif. The tournament gets underway Friday, March 2 and runs through Sunday, March 4.
San Diego State-UC Irvine: The Series
San Diego State and UC Irvine have not faced each other for some time. Since the 1996 season, the two schools have met five times, with the most recent meeting occurring in 2002. That season SDSU emerged victorious, beating UC Irvine, 6-1. Overall, the Aztecs hold the series lead 3-2 in matches played since 1996.
Scouting UC Irvine
The Anteaters find themselves ranked in a tie for 75th nationally with Oregon, Portland, College of William and Mary and Alabama-Birmingham. UC Irvine comes into its match with the Aztecs with a 3-4 record and has lost two straight, most recently to Mountain West Conference member and No. 74 UNLV. Through their initial seven matches, the Anteaters have played three teams on SDSU's schedule and have gone 1-2. Besides losing to UNLV, UCI was shutout by UCLA and defeated Brigham Young, 4-3. After beating the Cougars, UC Irvine dropped a 6-1 decision to Santa Clara, a team that visited Montezuma Mesa in January for the Aztec Invitational.
Dickhardt Tough at No. 2
If there has been one bright spot for San Diego State it has been the play of senior Markus Dickhardt. To open the year, Dickhardt experienced no trouble in registering straight-sets victories over his UC Riverside and Concordia (Calif.) opponents en route to earning Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honors. After splitting time at Nos. 1 and 2 while Christian Groh was out, Dickhardt returned to his old form and dispatched Richard Johnson of 10th-ranked Pepperdine, 7-5, 5-6, 10-6. For his efforts, he entered this past weekend as the No. 68th ranked singles player nationally and he lived up to the hype. Against Oregon, he defeated Mike Myrhed in straight sets at No. 2 and followed it with a three-set victory over 83rd-ranked Alex Slovic of Washington at No. 1. In a disappointing weekend, he returned from the Pacific Northwest as the only Aztec to win both of his singles matches.
Injury Bug Bites Aztecs
No one likes to make excuses, but the injury bug has taken a bite out of the Aztecs. Injuries have hampered Christian Groh all season long and now Achim Ceban has fallen victim. Groh, one-half of the No. 8 ranked doubles tandem, has battled tendinitis in both of his knees which has caused him to miss significant action and forced head coach Gene Carswell to shuffle the lineup. Ceban, a freshman, was the latest Aztec to go down as he suffered an ankle injury during the Pepperdine match which led to his retirement at No. 5. Both players made somewhat of a comeback as Groh competed in two doubles matches and only one singles tilt, while Ceban was only able to go in singles with SDSU's match with Washington.
Doubles Struggles
During San Diego State's five-match losing streak, the Aztecs have had a hard time winning the doubles point. In fact, SDSU has lost 12 of 15 doubles matches during its 0-5 run compared to winning five of six in its first two contests, which were coincidentally Aztec victories. San Diego State broke an 0-for-9 slump when they broke out the brooms against Oregon, but suffered the same fate against the Huskies.
Tough Stretch
The Aztecs find themselves in an upward battle that continues through the middle of March. SDSU opened the stretch by facing a USC team that was ranked 43rd at the time and is now ranked No. 13. Next up was a date with No. 4 UCLA, but rain forced the rescheduling of the match. On Feb. 4, the Aztecs faced No. 17 Boise State and followed it with No. 10 Pepperdine. Then SDSU went up against No. 75 Oregon and No. 15 Washington last weekend. Now their next challenge will be their duel with 75th-ranked UC Irvine. Without a break, SDSU will be competing in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship the day after the matchup with UCI. The road doesn't any easier after a weekend in La Jolla as SDSU will face No. 64 Arizona, UC Santa Barbara and No. 21 North Carolina.