California Team Page
SAN DIEGO - Sixteenth-ranked California fought hard against No. 48 San Diego State but ultimately fell, 4-3, to the host Aztecs on Thursday at the Aztec Tennis Center. Cal's record is now 5-5, while SDSU improved to 8-3 after the nonconference affair.
"San Diego State played well today, and we weren't able to capitalize on our opportunities in singles and doubles," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "The frustrating part is that we've been playing well in doubles, and today we didn't win one match. We should be able to learn from this, and then put it behind us so we can focus on our upcoming matches."
The match began with singles action, and the Bears pulled out to a 2-0 lead, as 56th-ranked junior Ben McLachlan defeated No. 71 Derek Siddiqui, 6-4, 6-1, on court one, and No. 69 junior Campbell Johnson beat Hunter Nicholas, 7-5, 6-1 on court three. While freshman Mads Engsted lost to the Aztecs' Juan Florez, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, on court five, sophomore Gregory Bayane pulled out a three-set win over Marvin Tawasi, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, on court four to give Cal a 3-1 advantage.
But SDSU rebounded to prevail on court six - Cal sophomore Nikhil Jayashankar fell to Andranik Khachatryan, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 - and on court two - No. 34 Christoffer Konigsfeldt lost to Thorsten Bertsch, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 - to tie the match at 3-3 heading into doubles play.
The Aztecs went on to sweep doubles, and the court two result - in which Engsted and McLachlan dropped a 9-8(6) decision to Siddiqui/Khachatryan - decided the match.
The Golden Bears will continue playing in the San Diego area when they play in the Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament in nearby La Jolla, Calif. The Cal pair of Jayashankar and freshman Wyatt Houghton fell to the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps duo of Yevgeny Pereverzin and Lestter Yeh, 7-5, 3-6, 10-7. Play continues on Friday, March 1, and ends on Sunday, March 3.
No. 48 San Diego State 4, No. 16 California 3
Thursday, Feb. 28
San Diego, Calif.
Singles
1. No. 56 Ben McLachlan (Cal) def. No. 71 Derek Siddiqui (SDSU) - 6-4, 6-1
2. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) def. No. 34 Christoffer Konigsfeldt (Cal) - 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
3. No. 69 Campbell Johnson (Cal) def. Hunter Nicholas (SDSU) - 7-5, 6-1
4. Gregory Bayane (Cal) def. Marvin Tawasi (SDSU) - 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
5. Juan Florez (SDSU) def. Mads Engsted (Cal) - 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
6. Andranik Khachatryan (SDSU) def. Nikhil Jayashankar (Cal) - 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 2.
Doubles
1: Nicholas/Bertsch (SDSU) def. No. 18 Johnson/Konigsfeldt (Cal) - 9-8(5)
2: Siddiqui/Khachatryan (SDSU) def. Engsted/B. McLachlan (Cal) - 9-8(6)
3: Florez/Tawasi (SDSU) def. Bayane/ Melton (Cal)- 8-6
(San Diego State wins the doubles point)
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1.
Pacific Coast Doubles Championships
Thursday, Feb. 28
La Jolla, Calif.
Perverzin/Yeh (CMS) def. Jayashankar/Houghton (Cal) - 7-5, 3-6, 10-7.