Feb. 26, 2006

San Diego, Calif. - Trailing 3-0, the Pacific men's tennis team put on a fierce rally to upset No. 50 San Diego State, 4-3, on Sunday, Feb. 26.

With the win, Pacific moved to 8-2 on the season, while the Aztecs fell to 3-4.

Down 3-0 after dropping the doubles point and the No. 6 and No. 3 singles points, Pacific freshman Tim Koniarski (Bad Abbach, Germany) grabbed a straight set win, 7-5, 6-2 over Anthony Gomez at No. 4.

Junior Alan Kelly (Dublin, Ireland) followed with the first of three consecutive three-set victories for the Tigers. Kelly defeated Eugenio Romero, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, at the No. 5 spot.

The Tigers tied the match at three points each when senior Jorgen Vestli (Hamar, Norway) rallied to defeat San Diego State's Benedikt Stronk, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 2 position.

The decisive match featured a pair of nationally ranked players as No. 99 Markus Dickhardt engaged Pacific senior No. 79 Arnar Sigurdsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) in an epic thriller on the No. 1 court. With the score deadlocked at one set apiece, Dickhardt grabbed a 3-0 lead in the third stanza and appeared to be in control. Sigurdsson, however, clawed his way back into the match, eventually forcing a tiebreaker.

With the momentum in his favor, Sigurdsson went on to claim the tiebreak and the match for the Tigers, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

Pacific is back in action on Friday, March 3 as the Tigers travel to Seattle, Wash. to take on the University of Washington at 5 p.m.

Results
Pacific 4, No. 50 San Diego State 3
San Diego, Calif.

Doubles (SDSU wins doubles point):

1) Jorgen Vestli/Vladimir Zdravkovic (PAC) def. Benedikt Stronk/Billy Timu (SDSU), 8-6
2) Christian Groh/Stephan Timu (SDSU) def. Arnar Sigurdsson/Tim Koniarski (PAC), 8-4
3) Markus Dickhardt /Eugenio Romero (SDSU) def. Alan Kelly/Austin Kakar (PAC), 8-3

Singles:

1) No. 79 Arnar Sigurdsson (PAC) def. No. 99 Markus Dickhardt (SDSU), 6-7, 6-3, 7-6
2) Jorgen Vestli (PAC) def. Benedikt Stronk (SDSU), 6-7, 6-3, 6-2
3) Stephan Timu (SDSU) def. Vladimir Zdravkovic (PAC), 6-3, 6-3
4) Tim Koniarski (PAC) def. Anthony Gomez (SDSU), 7-5, 6-2
5) Alan Kelly (PAC) def. Eugenio Romero (SDSU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
6) Robert Sabo (SDSU) def. Austin Kakar (PAC), 6-0, 6-2

Order of finish: 6, 3, 4, 5, 2, 1* *match-securing victory