SAN DIEGO – This weekend, the San Diego State men's tennis team wraps up its regular season. The Aztecs will play at UNLV at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and host Utah State at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Prior to Saturday's match, the team will honor its five seniors: Robin Parts, Andre Saleh, Chikaya Sato, Johannes Seeman and Bora Sengul.
The winner of five of its last seven matches, San Diego State (13-5, 2-2 Mountain West) is looking to keep things rolling after beating Air Force 5-2 and New Mexico 4-3 in last week's action.
The Aztecs' second doubles team, Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Seeman, is 6-1 this season including a 3-1 record in Mountain West play. Gonzalez Fitzmaurice was named Mountain West Player of the Week last week for his efforts in the wins over Air Force and New Mexico.
SDSU's lone newcomer this season, Parts has led the way for the Scarlet and Black. Parts is undefeated in singles (13-0) and holds a 7-4 doubles record with partner Alexander Mandma. He primarily plays on the fifth court in singles and on the top court in doubles.
Maintaining a year of eligibility, Saleh earned a straight sets win in his lone dual match appearance against UC Riverside. A transfer from Nebraska, Saleh is in his second season playing for SDSU. He finished second on the team in wins with seven in the fall of 2022. He also clinched the team's first win last season against San Francisco.
Also with a year of eligibility left, Sato is in his second season as an Aztec after coming over from Penn State. One of two SDSU players to compete in every dual match last season, Sato made an immediate impact on The Mesa. He was named All-Mountain West in both singles and doubles a year ago. In singles, he played on the second court and earned five dual wins. In doubles, Sato won the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships with Seeman and earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors for his efforts. Seeman and Sato tied for the team lead with 16 doubles wins. This season, he has won about half of his matches in singles. In doubles play, Sato and Sengul are 4-2, all in dual matches, with a 2-1 record in Mountain West play.
The longest tenured Aztec, Seeman is wrapping up his fourth season on The Mesa. A staple at the top of the Aztec lineup, he has been named All-Mountain West three times in both singles and doubles. Seeman has also earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors in three of the last four seasons. A year ago, Seeman led the team with 14 wins and nine tournament victories while finishing second with five dual wins. In doubles, he and Sato won eight matches in four days by beating a top-25 ranked doubles team and winning seven matches in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships to bring home the tournament title and earn the No. 80 spot in the national doubles rankings. This season, Seeman has four singles wins including a 2-0 record on the second court and a 6-1 doubles record with Gonzalez Fitzmaurice, all coming on the second court. Half of the pair's wins have come in conference matches.
Sengul is in his second season with San Diego State after transferring from Penn State. Last season, he finished with a 7-4 dual record in singles while playing on the middle courts. Sengul was one of just four Aztecs to reach double digit victories on the season. In doubles, he was one of two Aztecs with winning records in overall play, dual matches, tournament play, and conference matches. Sengul and Alexander Mandma won seven of their first eight matches together. This season, Sengul holds a 7-4 record when playing on the second and third courts including a 3-1 mark in conference matches. He also won in straight sets against the lone ranked opponent he faced: Boise State's No. 98 Jip Van Assendelft. Sengul has maintained a 10-5 doubles record in dual matches including 5-2 with Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and 4-2 with Chikaya Sato.
UNLV (8-9, 1-2) is looking to bounce back from a pair of losses last week at Boise State and at Utah State. The Aztecs fell 4-3 to the Rebels last season but still lead the all-time series 26-12.
No. 67-ranked Utah State (17-4, 4-1) has won four consecutive matches, beating Air Force, Boise State, Nevada and UNLV. San Diego State was bested 4-1 by the Aggies last season and has only won one of the team's nine matchups.
Both matches will be live streamed, although the live stream for Thursday's match will only cover the top three courts, and Thursday's match will also have live stats.
Thursday live stream: https://tinyurl.com/4r34apze.
Thursday live stats: https://tinyurl.com/48bd32sa.
Saturday live stream: https://tinyurl.com/daay7b34.
San Diego State returns to Las Vegas next week for the Mountain West Championships, held from Wednesday, April 24-Saturday, April 27.
Aztecs Finish Season at UNLV and vs. Utah State
