The Lobo men’s tennis team was desperate for a win after dropping its last four outings and got one by grinding out a hard-fought match at home on Tuesday over Northern Arizona.
After losing to UC Santa Barbara on Friday, the Lobos were desperate for a victory.
Before the Mountain-Pacific Invitational Tournament in California, the Lobos were in fine form, having won five matches in a row.
But the Lobos played a handful of matches in California, though one wound up getting postponed. New Mexico lost both matches in the tournament and the California curse continued as it lost to UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara as well.
New Mexico fell behind in its most recent loss against UC Santa Barbara after the Anteaters managed to scrape away the doubles point when the freshmen
In singles play, Lobo sophomore Ricky Hernandez-Tong, senior Rodolfo Jauregui, junior Bart Van Leijsen, and Baklini lost their matches.
At the No. 4 position, Lobo freshman Dominic West overcame senior Jonathan Hammel 6-2, 6-3, and Escutia, after a thrilling third set tiebreak, beat Man-Son-Hing 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 at the No. 5 spot. The overall match between the two sides finished 5-2 in favor of the Anteaters.
But New Mexico (7-9) have been a different team at home, going undefeated at McKinnon Family Tennis Center.
And on Tuesday, the Lobos continued to assert itself again in a 5-2 home win over Northern Arizona.
Both teams started off strong, fighting fiercely for the doubles point. The Lumberjack freshmen duo of Ruben Montano and Tim Handel beat the Lobo doubles pair of Van Leijsen and West 7-5 at the No. 2 doubles position.
UNM responded quickly with a narrow 7-6 (7-5) win from sophomore Michael Tran and Escutia at the No. 3 position, and in another thrilling third set tiebreaker, UNM’s Hernandez-Tong and Jauregui won 7-6 (8-6) against freshman Lucas Taylor and junior Sebastian Eguez, giving the Lobos the early 1-0 lead.
“It was really close,” UNM junior Jorge Escutia said. “We started playing better in the tiebreak because before we were missing a lot of shots that we shouldn’t miss. We were really focusing, just like Ricky and Rudolfo.”
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The early momentum continued into singles play for the Lobos.
At the No. 4 position, West defeated Lumberjack sophomore Felix Schumann 6-2, 6-2, and at the No. 6 position, Tran beat freshman Thomas Fisher 6-3, 7-5.
Hernandez-Tong sealed the overall victory for the Lobos as he won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot. Moments later, Escutia won at the No. 5 position 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
The Lumberjacks were able to put up a couple of points on the board after the outcome was decided, but the Lobos still prevailed with a 5-2 overall win.
“We needed that match to build a little confidence,” UNM head coach Ben Dunbar said. “I think that was the perfect match for us, toughness-wise and the way that they pushed us and having to come through a little bit of adversity—it lets us feel good going into the time off and into the conference matches.”
The Lobos will have a little over two weeks of rest before playing their next match on Mar. 31 against Fresno State University.
It will be the official Mountain West Conference opener for both sides, though the team met earlier in the Mountain Pacific Invitational. The Lobos will be looking to avenge the 4-1 loss they suffered at the hands of the Bulldogs.
Matthieu
