Men’s Tennis: Lobos fall to Fresno, bounce back to beat Nevada at the weekend

The Lobos began their Mountain West Conference bid with a narrow loss to Fresno State and a decisive victory over the Nevada Wolfpack.

Despite coming away with a split, the Lobos seemed encouraged by the performances over the weekend.

The Lobos (8-10, 1-1 MW) played their first Conference match against Fresno State (12-10, 2-0 MW) at home. The Bulldogs beat UNM earlier in the season in a comprehensive 4-1 victory, but this time around, the Lobos made it much more difficult for the Bulldogs.

UNM asserted its presence early on, as the doubles pair of junior Bart Van Leijsen and freshman Dominic West won 6-4 at the No. 2 position. Soon after, duo of sophomore Ricky Hernandez-Tong and freshman Lawrence Perrin clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 victory over senior Euan McIntosh and sophomore Patrik Pech.

The Lobos carried their early momentum into singles play.

Van Leijsen defeated McIntosh 6-4, 7-6 at the No. 2 position, and Perrin beat Youssef Hassan 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 at the No. 5 spot. Perrin’s victory put the Lobos up 3-0, meaning that they only needed one more point to pick up the team victory.

But Fresno battled back in dramatic fashion.

Fresno State’s freshman Zdenek Derkas beat West 6-3, 7-6 at the No. 3 spot, and Pech followed up Derkas’ win with a 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory over UNM junior Jorge Escutia. Fresno State’s junior Xander Veyes then grinded out a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Hernandez-Tong.

The result placed the outcome of the match on the shoulders of UNM senior Rodolfo Jauregui and Bulldog freshman and Henrique Osorio.

In the third set tiebreaker, Osorio delivered for the Bulldogs, winning 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2) and earning Fresno State the overall victory.

“We just couldn’t quite get over the finish line,” UNM head coach Ben Dunbar said. “Our fans were amazing, but credit goes to Fresno because they played better in the big moments of the match and got their comeback victory.”

Despite nearly avenging their loss earlier in the season to Fresno State, the Lobos stayed focused, putting all of their energy into the match against Nevada (6-8, 1-1 MW), their second Conference match of the season.

The Lobos and the Wolfpack each claimed a doubles match early on, but UNM, through Hernandez-Tong and Perrin, won the deciding match 7-5, gifting the Lobos the early 1-0 lead.

In singles play, West put the Lobos up 2-0 after a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 3 position, and Van Leijsen increased the lead to 3-0 following a 6-1, 7-5 victory over freshman Julien Evrard at the No. 1 position. Perrin lost his match at the No. 4 position 6-3, 6-2, but Hernandez-Tong won his match soon after, ending singles play and sealing a 4-1 victory for UNM.

The Lobos will play again on Friday, Apr. 7 at 6 p.m. MDT against Boise State in Boise, Idaho, followed by another match on Apr. 9 in Logan, Utah, against Utah State.

Matthieu Cartron is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter 
@cartron_matt.