by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's tennis team failed to capture a title at the Balloon Fiesta Invitational this weekend.
That does not mean the home tournament was completely unsuccessful for the Lobos, though.
Freshmen Johnny Parkes and Graeme Kassautzki played in the Flight A division of the singles this weekend, and both advanced to the quarterfinals.
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Kassautzki came into the tournament as the No. 2 seed, and was given a bye in the first round. He advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Northern Arizona's Gareth Ducray in two sets, 6-3, 6-4. Kassautzki faced off against seventh-seeded Victor Zetterholm, and was upset 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Assistant coach Loren Dils said Kassautzki simply made too many mistakes.
"That kid from Denver has been playing really well," he said. "It was a very competitive match, and Graeme didn't play his best."
Parkes, meanwhile, was seeded fifth in the invitational and received a first-round bye as well. He beat Roman Stoisavljevic of New Mexico State University, 7-5, 6-3. Parkes lost in the quarterfinals, but advanced to the finals of the Flight A consolation match where he lost 6-4, 7-5.
"He's a good tennis player - a very good hitter," Dils said. "He has a long way to go with the experience factor. I think he's got a very good upside, but he's got a lot to learn."
Parkes said while he did not end up winning a title, he thought he could take some positive things out of the tournament.
"The first match wasn't so good, but I just improved as the tournament went on," he said. "Every time I come out here, I just want to do the best that I can and work on my game."
Freshman Chandler Brass competed in the singles Flight B, and performed well there in the early rounds.
In his first match he won easy, dropping Air Force's Keith Cronican 6-3, 6-0. Brass then dominated his quarterfinal opponent, Hay Wofford of Texas Tech, 6-0, 6-0. Brass fell short in the semifinals, losing 6-4, 6-0, to Arizona's Peter Zimmer.
UNM had one doubles team advance to the quarterfinals, with the duo of senior Eric Conklin and sophomore Derek Lynch winning their first two matches. They earned a victory in a close match, 9-8, in the first round. Then they cruised in the second round, defeating the team of Shawn Baker and Drew Gaffney from the New Mexico Military Institute, 8-1.
Head coach Alan Dils said there were some good performances, and the team has a lot to look forward to as the season progresses.
"We played decent," he said. "Not great, but decent. The main thing we're trying to do is get a lot of matches for these guys. We're so young, so you see a lot of those freshman mistakes, but overall we played pretty good."
Of the five Lobos who competed in the tournament, three were freshmen, and there was one sophomore and one senior.
Alan Dils said his players just need a little more experience before they start winning.
"In six months' time or three months' time I think these matches will go a different way," he said.
