ON TARGET: Aztecs Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, left, of Thailand, and Joe Tyler, of Britain score direct hits. Both transferred to SDSU under NCAA rules to help athletes affected by the pandemic. Tyler’s University of Iowa eliminated men’s tennis as a sport.
San Diego State’s women’s tennis team recaptured the Mountain West Conference tournament crown with three swift victories that propelled the Aztecs into post-season NCAA competition for the seventh time in nineteen years.
They defeated UNLV, 4-1, for the MW title. But then, deprived of their top player due to a health issue, the women fell to USC, 4-0, in the opening round of NCAA play.
“We had a very talented team this year,” said Coach Peter Mattera. “When we were all healthy, I thought that we had the ability to win the conference. The big question was were we going to be able to have the entire group ready to go for the tournament. Luckily, that did happen, and we played 3 really good matches in a row to secure the conference championship.
“It was a total team effort,” Mattera said in an email. “Everyone decided to pour their heart and soul into going after the conference tournament. It was great to get to see them be rewarded for their efforts, and the University and the department are very proud!”
The Aztec men, meanwhile, came within a single victory of reaching the finals of the season-ending Mountain West Conference tournament. After defeating the Air Force Academy, 4-2, they fell to Nevada, 4-1, in the semifinals.
“Being points away from winning a share of the title was a great growth experience,” said Coach Gene Carswell. “Our returning players will have that memory to push them to achieve more in 2023.”
Carswell added “We were much closer to winning a share of the regular season championship. Against Nevada, the doubles point came down to a tiebreaker. We won two matches in straight sets, had three others go three sets (two losses).”
Three Aztec women won Mountain West Player of the Week honors: Tamara Arnold (January 26, March 30), Regina Pitts (March 16), and Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (April 13).
Arnold and Thamchaiwat were chosen for the all-conference team in both singles and doubles.
As the top Mountain West women’s player, Thamchaiwat gained automatic entry in the NCAA singles championships, where she defeated Kari Miller of Michigan, 6-3, 6-1, before losing, 6-2, 7-5, to USC’s 7th-ranked Erin Cayetano. This ran Thamhaiwat’s 2022 singles record to a remarkable 21 victories, 3 losses.
“I am proud of the season she and the team have had,” Coach Mattera told goaztecs.com, “and I am excited to have her back next year.”
Facing covid scheduling complications, the Aztec men saw all of their first month’s matches scrapped.
They did not step onto a court for a team match until the first week of February, when they defeated UC San Diego, 6-1, and Portland, 4-3, then lost to Washington’s undefeated Huskies, 4-0.
Aztec Joe Tyler won Mountain West Men’s Player of the Week honors twice (February 9 and March 2).
Tyler and Aztec Johannes Seeman won all-conference singles honors. Tyler and Aztec Victor Castro earned all-conference doubles honors.
