San Diego State Claims MWC Men's Tennis Title

Aztecs earn automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

Oliver Maiberger clinches the MWC Men's Tennis Championship for SDSU.
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April 27, 2002

LAS VEGAS - All six seeds held perfectly as No. 1 San Diego State downed No. 2 BYU 4-1 to win the 2002 Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Championship at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Saturday.

The 28th-ranked Aztecs earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships and improved to 18-8 overall with their third win this season over the 70th-ranked Cougars, who fell to 15-9.

The teams split the first two completed doubles matches to begin play in sunny conditions with a slight breeze. At the top position, the third-ranked Aztec duo of Oliver Maiberger and Ryan Redondo out-dueled eighth-ranked Carlos Lozano and Gert Vilms in a tiebreaker 9-8 (7-5) and grab a 1-0 team lead.

In singles play, Redondo cruised past Jeff Olsen 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5 to make it 2-0. Felix Hardt then gave SDSU a 3-0 lead by downing Nic Losee 7-5, 6-2 on court three. BYU got on the board when Vilms finished off Valentino Pest 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2. All three remaining matches, however, split sets. MWC Player of the Year Maiberger, ranked 17th, rallied in his match vs. Lozano at the top spot. After dropping the first set he won a tiebreaker to stay alive and then clinched the team title by the final of 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

"Oliver coming back was huge!" SDSU head coach John Nelson said. "I told him that it was going to come down to him and he always finds a way to pull it out. I have never seen someone who can step up and be so tough mentally in situations like this. This was a team effort and we played well. BYU was tough. They really came after us today so our guys did a real nice job."

Earlier in the day New Mexico downed Utah for third place. UNLV defeated Air Force for fifth place on Friday.

Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Championship
(1) SAN DIEGO STATE 4, (2) BYU 1
Final -- At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas

SINGLES - (SDSU Wins Three Team Points)
1. (17) Oliver Maiberger (SDSU) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU), 3-6, 7-6, 6-2
2. Gert Vilms (BYU) def. Valentino Pest (SDSU), 6-4, 6-2
3. Felix Hardt (SDSU) def. Nic Losee (BYU), 7-5, 6-2
4. Travis Hasson (SDSU) vs. Erik Nyman (BYU), Did not finish
5. Ryan Redondo (SDSU) def. Jeff Olsen (BYU), 6-2, 6-0
6. Gabe Coren (SDSU) vs. Jeff Harbach (BYU) Did not finish

DOUBLES -- (SDSU Wins One Team Point)
1. (3) Maiberger/Redondo (SDSU) def. (8) Lozano/Vilms (BYU), 9-8 (5)
2. Hardt/Pest (SDSU) def. Losee/Nyman (BYU), 8-3
3. Olsen/Harbach (BYU) def. Hasson/Coren (SDSU), 8-3