SAN DIEGO – The Gauchos (6-12; BW 1-0) dropped their final non-conference match at San Diego State (9-9) in their seventh 4-3 loss of the season. UC Santa Barbara won the doubles point but lost four of six singles matches en route to their fourth loss in their last five matches.
The Gauchos had a good start to the match, with wins at doubles courts 1 and 3 to secure the doubles point. UCSB duo Teague Hamilton and Andrew Riminton were first off the court with an 8-6 victory over Bertsch/Menzier at No. 3 doubles. The Aztecs came back with a won at No. 2 doubles, where Gelbrich/Jebens topped Erik Johnsson and Miles Seemann 8-6.
The doubles point came down to the final match at No. 1 doubles, where junior pair Tobias Galskov and Ziad Sultan came through with an 8-4 win against Nicholas/Khachtryan to give the Gauchos a 1-0 lead.
In singles play, the Gaucho freshmen Erik Johnsson and Teague Hamilton battled to three set victories at the No. 4 and 5 positions, respectively, but it wasn’t enough as SDSU won the other four matches to take the match 4-3.
“Doubles play was good,” said Coach Marty Davis. “[But] we got outperformed at the top of the lineup [in singles].”
The Aztecs took a 2-1 lead after Juan Florez defeated Miles Seemann 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles and Freddy Gelbrich downed Sasha Gryaznov 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 3 slot.
Freshman Teague Hamilton posted his 11th dual victory of the season to tie the match a 2-all, after battling back from a set down to defeat Milen Ianakeiv 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
SDSU followed up with victories at No. 2 singles, where Ziad Sultan was edged 6-3, 7-6 (10) by Hunter Nicholas, then at No. 1 singles, where Tobias Galskov lost 6-3, 6-2 against Thorsten Bertsch to clinch the fourth point.
Play continued at No. 4 singles, where Erik Johnsson came up with the third Gaucho point after beating SDSU’s Hendrik Jebens 7-5, 1-6 6-3 to even his dual record at 9-9.
The Gauchos now have only conference matches remaining on the schedule and need wins to secure a good seed for the Big West tournament. Up next for UCSB are the UC Riverside Highlanders, who were swept by Azusa Pacific on Saturday. First serve is set for 12 p.m. at the Andulka Park Tennis Center.
RESULTS
San Diego State 4, UC Santa Barbara 3
April 5, 2014
Aztec Tennis Center (San Diego, Calif.)Doubles
1. Galskov/Sultan (UCSB) def. Nicholas/Khachtryan (SDSU) 8-4
2. Gelbrich/Jebens (SDSU) def. Johnsson/Seemann (UCSB) 8-6
3. Hamilton/Riminton (UCSB) def. Bertsch/Menzier (SDSU) 8-6Singles
1. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) def. Tobias Galskov (UCSB) 6-3, 6-2
2. Hunter Nicholas (SDSU) def. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) 6-3, 7-6 (10)
3. Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU) def. Sasha Gryaznov (UCSB) 6-4, 6-2
4. Erik Johnsson (UCSB) def. Hendrik Jebens (SDSU) 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
5. Teague Hamilton (UCSB) def. Milen Ianakeiv (SDSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Juan Florez (SDSU) def. Miles Seemann (SDSU) 6-1, 6-2Order of finish: Doubles: (3, 2, 1); Singles (6, 3, 5, 2, 1, 4)
UCSB Season Record: 6-12; Big West 1-0
