After winning five matches in a row the Lobos will travel this weekend to Stockton, California to defend their title in the Mountain-Pacific Invitational.
The Mountain-Pacific Invitational an annual event that is in its third season and is sponsored by the Rietsch family and hosted by Pacific and co-hosted by UNM. New Mexico won the most recent edition last spring.
Cal Poly, Grand Canyon, Wichita State, UT Arlington, Fresno State, San Francisco, Pacific and UNM make up the eight-team field, and likely all very familiar with each other.
The tournament features direct elimination, but every team is guaranteed three matches, with the final four matches of the event designated as the first place match (championship match), third place match, fifth place match, and seventh place match.
The first two matches will take place on Saturday and the final matches will occur the following day.
New Mexico (6-5) will play their first match against Fresno State for the first time this season. The Lobos have been hot and are riding the wave of a five-match winning streak, the most recent wins coming against UTSA by a score of 5-0 and New Mexico State 4-1 last Saturday.
Fresno State (6-5) has an identical record as the Lobos and have won three of its last five matches. One of the wins came against the University of Arizona, an in-form side that beat the Lobos 4-1 in mid-January. In their most recent match, the Bulldogs narrowly lost to UC Davis 4-3.
Although the Lobos played well at the beginning of the season, they faced tough opponents and couldn’t seem to deliver under pressure. However, it appears that the hard work and preparation the team has put in has started translating into positive results.
In the 2016 Mountain-Pacific invitational, the Lobos entered as the second seed and rolled through the competition. UNM beat the University of San Francisco 4-0 in the first round quarterfinal and eased past Grand Canyon 4-0 in the semifinal.
In the final, the Lobos also triumphed over Utah State 4-0, managing to win the tournament without surrendering a single point to their opponents.
This year, Cal Poly, Pacific, Fresno State and Wichita State make up the number one, two, three and four seeds, respectively.
“We are excited to get back out to California and play three matches,” UNM head coach Ben Dunbar said. “It is going to be a fun weekend and the guys have been working hard in preparation. We are defending champions in this event and we hope to defend our trophy with Lobo pride.”
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If the Lobos beat Fresno State in the first round, they will face the winner of the match between San Francisco or Pacific. The Lobos match against the Bulldogs to begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center in Stockton, California.
