SAN DIEGO – Playing the third of six consecutive road matches, the San Diego State men's tennis team returns to the courts this weekend when it travels up the coast to face UC Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Anteater Tennis Stadium. First serve is set for 12:30 p.m. PT.
The Aztecs (1-3) are coming off a pair of defeats to ranked opponents at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Los Angeles. SDSU dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 10 UCLA on Jan. 25 before suffering a 4-0 setback to No. 24 San Diego the following day.
Jan Kirchhoff recorded SDSU's lone point of the weekend with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over UCLA's Drew Baird at No. 3 singles.
For the season, David Hough and Aaro Pollanen share the team lead with eight wins apiece. Hough's last two encounters went unfinished vs. Ben Goldberg of UCLA and David Norfeldt of San Diego in the No. 4 singles position. Pollanen, meanwhile, will be looking for his first win of the spring after dropping his last three matches.
SDSU has won four straight meetings vs. UC Irvine and leads the all-time series 14-6 dating back to 1989. The two sides locked horns last year, with the Scarlet and Black emerging triumphant by a 4-3 count at Aztec Tennis Center. Despite dropping the doubles point, San Diego State rallied with four victories in singles play, highlighted by Fabian Roensdorf's clinching win at the top of the ladder.
Saturday's match marks the Aztecs' first appearance at UC Irvine since posting a 4-3 victory in 2013. The two teams battled one another the following year at Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach, with SDSU prevailing 5-2.
The Anteaters will also be making their spring debut this weekend. UCI is led by Mateusz Smolicki and Mike Mkrtchian, who have compiled eight singles victories apiece. Smolicki captured the consolation title at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships last October in Malibu, while Mkrtchian took home the crown in the consolation bracket of the State Flight at the SDSU Fall Invitational.
Aaron Bailey and Ali Amiri combined to post the Anteaters' top doubles record last fall with a 5-3 mark.
SDSU racked up a 6-2 record in singles play against UCI opponents during the fall tournament slate. Four of the eight matches were extended to three sets, including Hough's victory over Smolicki, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, in the first round of the Aztec Flight at the SDSU Fall Invitational.
The teams also split a pair of doubles encounters, as Hough joined forces with Alex Scemanenco to defeat Amiri and Bailey, 8-4, in an extra consolation match at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships. Earlier, the same UCI duo knocked off Jules Auffray and Daniel Traxler, 6-2, in the Flight B semifinals of the SDSU Fall Invite.
Following its engagement at UC Irvine, San Diego State will add to freeway mileage again next weekend with another non-conference match vs. Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Feb. 8, starting at 2 p.m. PT in Los Angeles.