SAN DIEGO – Playing its first dual match in nearly 11 months, the San Diego State men's tennis team came up on the wrong side of a 5-2 score to visiting Cal Poly on Thursday in the 2021 season opener for both teams at Aztec Tennis Center.
SDSU dropped all three doubles matches and fell short in four of six singles encounters to suffer its fourth straight season-opening dual match defeat and dipped to 10-4 in the all-time series vs. the Mustangs dating back to 1989.
Fresno State transfer Johannes Seeman teamed with Aaro Pollanen in his doubles debut for the Scarlet and Black. However, the Aztec duo was unable to get past the Mustang duo of Joe Leather and Antoine Noel in the No. 1 position, falling in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5).
Earlier, Noah Berry and Gary Vardanyan dispatched the SDSU pairing of Rafael Gonzalez Almazan and Ignacio Martinez by a 6-1 tally on the No. 2 court, while the Aztec freshman tandem of Judson Blair and Roni Rikkonen were upended by Roman Shenkiryk and Alex Stater in the third spot, 6-3.
The Mustangs claimed the first two decisions in singles play before Seeman put the host school on the board after outlasting Noel at the top of the ladder, 7-5, 7-6(5).
However, SDSU managed just one other victory after Cal Poly had already secured the requisite four points on the team scoreboard, as Gonzalez Almazan prevailed in a three-set battle against Leather at No. 4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
The Aztecs had chances in the previous two matches, which were also extended to three sets. However, Martinez ran out of steam against Stater on the third court, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, while Pollanen was unable to hold an early lead over Berry at No. 2, falling by a count of 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
In addition, Rikkonen was toppled earlier by Fernando Fonseca in the sixth position, 6-4, 6-3, while Blair experienced the sting of a 6-3, 6-1 defeat to Vardanyan at No. 5.
San Diego State will have little time to dwell on its defeat before preparing to face No. 1 USC on Sunday, Feb. 7, at Marks Stadium in Los Angeles. First serve is set for noon PT. A link to live scoring and streaming video will be available on GoAztecs.com.
Aztecs Fall to Cal Poly in Season Opener, 5-2
