The UNM men's tennis team takes the first step this fall toward recapturing what it lost last season - the Mountain West Conference title.
The Lobos start the fall portion of their schedule this weekend when they travel to Las Cruces to take part in the New Mexico State University Fall Invite.
The other teams in the tournament are NMSU, Abilene Christian University and the New Mexico Military Institute.
The tournament kicks off the building stage for the Lobos, who are trying to replace three vital pieces of last season's team, which finished in third place in the conference.
UNM, currently ranked 67th in the country, lost seniors Takeshi Itoh, Andrew Irving and Kyle Russell, who combined for a 46-23 record last year.
Itoh, the Lobos' number one player, finished his career with 95 wins, one win shy of tying the Lobos' record for most wins.
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Although the Lobos lost three seniors, UNM still has a very experienced team. The Lobos have seven returning players this season, including three seniors, and three newcomers. The returning players combined for an 81-53 record last season.
"We have a good work ethic and leadership," head coach Alan Dils said. "I only expect really good things from the team this year. My expectations are high."
Dils is especially impressed with the newcomers.
"The recruits that we have coming in are as talented as those guys that we lost," he said. "I think with those three guys, we won't miss a beat."
Freshmen David Kowalski and Ryan Stottland and sophomore transfer David Coetzee will try and blend in to a talented nucleus of returners. Kowalski won two state tennis championships in high school.
"He is a very talented player, very competitive and not afraid of anybody," Dils said. "I mean it sincerely when I say I could put him up against the number one guy in the country and I think he would go in there and not be afraid to play him. He would give himself a true chance to win."
Kowalski will also get to learn from three seniors that have helped UNM become a conference power -- his brother John, Michael Polasek and Diego Garza.
Polasek is the highest rated player on the team as he played on the team's number two position for most of last year.
He compiled a 16-12 singles record at that position, including a 9-1 mark in the fall.
He also won the 13th Annual Nambe Balloon Fiesta Tournament last fall.
"He really started to come on last year, I felt," Dils said. "He started beating the caliber players he needs to be beating. Hopefully, that carries over and he gets better and better. Last year he got better and better and hopefully that will happen this year. He has a chance to do some really outstanding things."
John Kowalski returns with the most wins of any of the returning players. He recorded a 20-10 record. Garza also had an impressive season, finishing with 19 wins.
"Every year someone has stepped up and done a very good job and I only expect that to happen again," Dils said. "I don't know who it is yet, but we'll see."
The experience is what the newcomers will try to gain with the fall portion of the Lobos' schedule.
With five individual tournaments, the Lobos are more concerned with trying to fine-tune their game for the spring season than to win matches as a team.
"In the fall we are certainly working on things," Dils said. "This is the time period to really iron out some things. There is a big emphasis on conditioning, developing, working on shots. The tournaments are used to get a lot of matches."
Dils said the most important season is the spring season because that is when the Lobos play teams head-to-head and battle for the conference championship, which the Lobos won in 2000.
"Our goal is to win the regular season championship and then the tournament championship," he said. "Basically, everything we do for the whole year builds toward that regular season and tournament."
UNM finished tied for the regular season title last season with a 5-2 record in the conference, including 17-6 overall.
The Lobos eventually lost to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to take third place and end their bid for another championship.
Polasek said the team is hungry to regain its position as the top team in its conference, whcih starts with having a good fall season.
We're pretty confident as a team," Polasek said. "We know we're pretty talented and we can beat pretty good teams on any given day."
