EYES ON PRIZE: Aztecs Zoe Olmos, left, Paul Janson, and Gloria Alogo. The SDSU women have won the Mountain West Conference women’s title two years out of the last three.
San Diego State’s two college teams have drawn 17 students from 8 countries to play in the Aztecs’ 103rd tennis season.
Among their top opponents in 2025 are Harvard, Duke, UCLA, USC, Cal Berkeley, Oklahoma, and Washington.
The women are Gloria Alogo of Mallorca, Spain; Jo-Yee Chan of Sugar Hill, GA; Vesa Gjinaj of Vushtrri, Kosovo; Yasmine Kabbaj of Fes, Morocco; Ninon Martinache of Dunkirk, France; Zoe Olmos of Fremont, CA; Charlotte Roesch of Stuttgart, Germany, and Liisa Varul of Tartu, Estonia.
“We are very excited for the spring season of Aztec women’s tennis,” said Coach Peter Mattera. “We have eight very solid players that all have been working very hard this Fall. The team is really looking forward to the challenge of repeating as conference champions and making a run in the NCAAs.”
Mattera and Associate Coach Nicolas Vinel have asked Andreea Velcea, a former player, to help as a third coach.
The men’s players are Philipp Bosse of Bonn, Germany; Louis Chusseau of La Saussaye, France; Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice of San Diego; Paul Janson of Munich, Germany; Mathieu Josserand of Neuilly sur Seine, France; Marc Kleber of Saarbrücken, Germany; Liam Spiers of Calgary, Canada, and Alex Mandma and Denis Maijorov of Tallinn, Estonia.
Last season, the Aztec men surged to within one match of reaching the conference finals, regaining a competitive position in the Mountain West Conference. Five of this year’s teammates are newcomers; raising Coach Gene Carswell’s
expectations.
“Experience-wise, these guys are learning on the fly right now and I expect a ton of growth” Carswell said.
“The goal is always to compete for the conference championship. It was nice last year finishing in the national ranking, and I think we’ve got a little bit of momentum and these guys have a good taste in their mouth from what happened.”
Racing Sideline to Sideline, Aztecs Build Strength, Conditioning
At the direction of Adam Hall, the men and women quick shuffle (above) and run back and forth to build their strength, conditioning and balance. Hall directs the Athletic Department conditioning program for all teams at San Diego State.
At left, the two Aztec men running are Marc Kleber, far left, and Paul Janson.
At right, Adam Hall.