LAS VEGAS – San Diego State men’s tennis rallied from down 3-0 with wins on the bottom four singles courts to steal a 4-3 win over No. 67 UNLV on the road on Friday afternoon. The Aztecs improve to 8-9 on the season and 2-0 in the Mountain West while the Rebels fall to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
67th-ranked UNLV captured the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Aleksi Lofman and William Kleege were bested 6-3 by No. 58 Ilia Snitari and Arda Karakas in the top spot before Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Imran Daniel Hazli fell to Marko Maksimovic and Illia Maksymchuk by the same score on the second court. Brock Anderson and Lars Johann were all tied up at 5-5 against Taiyo Hirano and Vitaliy Horovoy on court three when the point was earned.
The Rebels quickly extended their lead to 3-0 with wins on the top two courts in singles competition. Hazli came up short 6-2, 6-2 to Maksimovic in the second spot while Lofman was tripped up 6-4, 6-3 by No. 61 Snitari on court one.
Gonzalez Fitzmaurice put the first point on the board for the Aztecs after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Maksymchuk on court three. Anderson then secured a 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against Karakas on the sixth court before Finn Willman downed Horovoy 3-6, 7-6 97-1), 6-3 in the fourth spot.
The match came down to the fifth court battle between Johann and Hirano. After narrowly taking the first set 7-5, the Aztec dropped the second 4-6. The Aztec bounced back for a 6-3 win in the third set to complete San Diego State’s comeback.
The Aztecs return to action on Sunday as they take on Nevada at noon PT.
Doubles
1. #58 Ilia Snitari/Arda Karakas (UNLV) def. Aleksi Lofman/William Kleege (SDSU) 6-3
2. Marko Maksimovic/Illia Maksymchuk (UNLV) def. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice/Imran Daniel Hazli (SDSU) 6-3
3. Brock Anderson/Lars Johann (SDSU) vs. Taiyo Hirano/Vitaliy Horovoy (UNLV) DNF 5-5
Singles
1. #61 Ilia Snitari (UNLV) def. Aleksi Lofman (SDSU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Marko Maksimovic (UNLV) def. Imran Daniel Hazli (SDSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (SDSU) def. Illia Maksymchuk (UNLV) 6-3, 6-2
4. Finn Willman (SDSU) def. Vitaliy Horovoy (UNLV) 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
5. Lars Johann (SDSU) def. Taiyo Hirano (UNLV) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
6. Brock Anderson (SDSU) def. Arda Karakas (UNLV) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,1,3,6,4,5)