While the UNM men's and women's tennis teams each wait to see if they will make the NCAA Regionals, both teams placed three players on the Mountain West Conference All-Conference team.
Senior Natalia Alekhova, junior Courtney Choate and freshman Sandy Lukowski were all-conference selections for the women's team, while senior Takeshi Itoh, junior Michael Polasek and sophomore Bart Scott were selected on the men's side.
The players say they hope their season is not over after each team took third place in the conference tournament last weekend. This afternoon, the NCAA will select which players and teams make the regionals, which will be held May 10-12.
The women's team has been led by Alekhova for much of the season playing in the number one singles position. Using a variety of shots to frustrate her opponents, Alekhova has built a 21-12 singles record. The 21 wins are the most on the team this season and is the second most in the conference. It is her second straight all-conference selection. Head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said that Alekhova will probably be the only Lobo to be chosen individually for the regionals but would not be surprised if one or two other players are chosen.
Choate and Lukowski earned all-conference honors in doubles play. Teaming in the number one position, the duo posted a 10-8 record on the year.
"Natalia's selection was expected because she had a pretty good year," Kolankiewicz said. "Courtney and Sandy were a welcome surprise, but they got better and better every game together."
Kolankiewicz hopes the duo and the rest of the team gets a chance to extend the season.
"I think we are on the bubble," she said. "It is a 50-50 split on whether we get into the tournament. I have a feeling though, that we are going to get in."
The 45th-ranked Lobos have a 16-9 record. Although the Lobos are ranked, Kolankiewicz said the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranks the teams, not the NCAA.
"The NCAA does not look too much into rankings," she said. "They look more at won-loss record and the opponents you have faced. They have a pretty stringent selection process."
The men's team is also nervous about its chances of getting into the regionals, despite having a 17-6 record, a second-place regular season conference finish and a third-place finish in the tournament.
"We probably have a small chance of getting in," Itoh said. "But I think we have a good chance of getting two individual bids."
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UNM was one of only two schools to get three players on the all-conference team. Itoh's selection is his first. Playing in the number one singles position for the Lobos, Itoh compiled a 22-9 record, which led the team and was second in the conference. He also had impressive victories over ranked players. In the Mountain West Tournament, he defeated the 92nd-ranked Nenad Zivkovic from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and the 22nd-ranked Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State University.
"I was happy when my coach told me I made it," Itoh said. "Last year I saw two of my teammates get awarded. So by seeing that I thought it would be so nice to make it."
He also was named all-conference as a doubles player, teaming with sophomore Bart Scott. The doubles tandem compiled a 19-11 record at the number one position for UNM. The teammates worked well together with Itoh moving all over the court and Scott overpowering the opposition.
Scott's made all-conference team individually after posting a 17-10 record, including a stretch in which he won 12 of 14 matches midway through the season.
Polasek earned a 16-12 record playing mostly at the number two position.
Now the only thing the players can do is wait to see if they will be playing some more tennis.
