SAN DIEGO – The Lions men's tennis team won their second straight 4-3 match on Thursday afternoon against San Diego State, after defeating UC Irvine Saturday afternoon. 

 

The Lions once again proved how crucial that doubles point can be.  

 

Sebastian Nothhaft and Arhtur Pantino could not hold on court one, falling 6-4. The pairings of Toky Ranaivo and Alex Padro Parra erased a 3-0 deficit on court two to finish 6-4 and Yassine Smiej and Max Wuelfing cruised to a 6-4 victory to clinch the first point of the match. 

 

The Aztecs took a 3-1 lead after winning the first three singles matches to finish. 

 

The Lions found a way however.  

 

Pantino made it 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 straight sets victory on court two.  

 

Padro fell in a tiebreaker in the first set 7-6 (7-5) before storming back to dominate the next two sets 6-1, 6-1. Padro's victory meant that the match came down to Nothhaft on court three. 

 

Nothhaft fell in a well-fought first set 6-4. He followed that up with a 6-4 victory of his own, setting up a decisive third set for the match. Nothhaft battled to a 5-5 tie before winning two in a row to clinch the point and the match.  

 

With the win, the Lions are now 5-3 on the season and will look to continue their success as they hit the road for some indoor tennis against Utah and Utah State on March 9 and March 10, respectively.  

 

The Lions next home match will be against Bucknell on Thursday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m. (PT) in the Lions Tennis Center.