Air Force Academy
San Diego State
Falcons Lose 6-1 to San Diego State
4/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 3, 2011
Despite winning the doubles point against San Diego State for the first time in 14 years, the Air Force men's tennis team lost to the Aztecs, 6-1, Sunday at the Academy. SDSU improved to 3-13 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West Conference, while the Falcons fell to 9-9 and 0-3 in league play.
The Falcons came out strong, winning two of the three doubles matches. Senior Taylor Soster and freshman Lucas Marin-Salcedo were off the court first after defeating Giovanni Vaglietti and Hunter Nicholas, 8-6, at the No. 1 spot. The Aztecs won at the No. 2 spot, then Air Force's No. 3 team of freshmen Andy Jackson and Alex Grubbs clinched the doubles point with an exciting 9-8 win over Andre Feliz and Shiva Sangwan. The Falcon duo won the tiebreaker 7-4, clinching the double point against the Aztecs for the first time since Feb. 16, 1997 during a 4-3 SDSU victory.
Unfortunately, the Falcons could not keep their momentum in singles as the Aztecs swept all six matches, three of them in three sets. Nicholas (No. 4) and Javier Pulgar (No. 2) each won in straight sets, then Feliz defeated Grubbs, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 at No. 5 and Juan Florez downed Falcon frosh Steven Young, 7-5, 7-6(0) at No. 6 to clinch the team match.
The last two matches were hard-fought three setters. SDSU's Tim Schulz van Endert rallied to beat Jackson at the No. 3 spot, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Vaglietti edged sophomore Lance Wilhelm at the top spot, 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5).
"We played very well as a team today but came up short in our singles matches, despite great efforts by all our players," said head coach Dan Oosterhous.
The Falcons play their final home match of the 2011 season on Thursday, April 7, hosting non-conference foe South Dakota State at 2 p.m.
San Diego State 6, Air Force 1
April 3, 2011
USAFA, Colo.
Singles
1. Gionvanni Vaglietti (SDSU) def. Lance Wilhelm, 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5)
2. Javier Pulgar (SDSU) def. Lucas Marin-Salcedo, 6-4, 6-3
3. Tim Schulz van Endert (SDSU) def. Andy Jackson, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Hunter Nicholas (SDSU) def. Taylor Soster, 6-3, 6-4
5. Andre Feliz (SDSU) def. Alex Grubbs, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0
6. Juan Florez (SDSU) def. Steven Young, 7-5, 7-6(0)
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 5, 6, 3, 1
Doubles
1. Soster / Marin-Salcedo (AF) def. Vaglietti / Nicholas, 8-6
2. Pulgar / Schulz van Endert (SDSU) def. Wilhelm / Young, 8-5
3. Jackson / Grubbs (AF) def. Feliz / Shiva Sangwan, 9-8 (4)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
