LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The San Diego State men's tennis team fell in heartbreaking fashion, 4-3 to UNLV on Friday afternoon at the Fertitta Tennis Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
With the loss the Aztecs are 5-9 in dual-match competitions, while UNLV improves to 12-11 on the season.
The Aztecs took an early lead when they secured the doubles point. SDSU's No. 1 team, Joe Tyler and Victor Castro earned the first win of the day with a 6-2 win to put the Aztecs in the driver's seat. On court three the Aztecs dropped a tightly contested match 7-5, before the Aztecs clinched the doubles point on court two. Johannes Seeman and Roni Rikkonen took the point in thrilling fashion, 7-6 (7-2), to give San Diego State a 1-0 lead heading to singles.
However, the Aztecs found things tougher in singles play, falling in four of six matches. Seeman pushed the advantage to 2-0 on court two and completed a perfect day, winning his match in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. The Rebels got a point back on court five when Jules Auffray fell 6-3, 6-4 to Zach Garner. UNLV would tie the match at 2-2 when Christopher Bulus won 6-2, 7-5 over Joe Tyler on court one.
UNLV then took a 3-2 lead before Judson Blair won in three sets on court six to tie the match at 3-3. He won the first set 6-3, dropped the second, 1-6, before rallying and dominating the third set 6-1 to take his match.
In the decisive sixth match of singles play Milos Dabic of UNLV and Mandma of SDSU battled for over two hours, going back and forth throughout the match. Mandma took the first set 6-4, forced a tiebreaker in the second set, which he came up just short in, falling 7-6 (7-5). The Estonia native battled back and forth in the third set, but fell 6-4 in the decisive third set.
UNLV 4, San Diego State 3
Fertitta Tennis Center—Las Vegas, Nev.
April 8, 2022
Singles competition
1. #88 Christopher Bulus (UNLV) def. Joe Tyler (SDSU) 6-2, 7-5
2. Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Zac Brodney (UNLV) 6-1, 6-2
3. Jordan Sauer (UNLV) def. Victor Castro (SDSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Milos Dabic (UNLV) def. Alexander Mandma (SDSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
5. Zach Garner (UNLV) def. Jules Auffray (SDSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Judson Blair (SDSU) def. Anton Ornberg (UNLV) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Joe Tyler/Victor Castro (SDSU) def. Zac Brodney/Milos Dabic (UNLV) 6-2
2. Johannes Seeman/Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) def. Jordan Sauer/Jackson Atherton (UNLV) 7-6 (7-2)
3. Christopher Bulus/Zach Garner (UNLV) def. Judson Blair/Alexander Mandma (SDSU) 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,5,1,3,6,4)