by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's tennis team has played in the comfort of the Lobo Tennis Complex for the last month, but that long home stand ended Saturday night with a loss to the University of Colorado at home.
No. 32-ranked Kamil Pajkowski and Max Jones were taken to a tiebreaker by Colorado's Eric Molnar and Mark Bundalo, before losing by one point. It was the duo's first loss of the season.
Pajkowski said either team could have won the match once the tiebreaker started, and Molnar and Bundalo just happened to come out on top.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"When the match goes to a tiebreaker in doubles, it's pretty much a coin flip on who's going to win," he said. "We just made a few mistakes that really hurt us in the end."
Miles Bugby and Johnny Parkes came away with the only win for the Lobos in doubles play. They quickly disposed of CU's Peter Bjork and Chad Tsuda 8-2.
The doubles matches were followed by singles play, which didn't fare well for the Lobos either. The results from doubles and singles were virtually the same with the Lobos coming out with one win in each.
Pajkowski, the lone winner in singles for the Lobos, beat Colorado's Jan Zelezny 6-2, 6-4. His partner in doubles, Jones, was defeated by Molnar of CU.
Jones was upset about the loss, and said he needs to focus in the future.
"I set really high standards for myself, so I'm really frustrated with the way the matches turned out today," he said. "I need to improve my mental toughness on the court, because sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me."
Head coach Alan Dils said the tough losses against CU were a good learning experience for the young team.
"Match toughness and experience usually determines who's going to win a close match like some of the ones we had here today," he said. "Our guys are young, and some of their best tennis is still a few years away, so the experience on the court in tough games is crucial."
Saturday's loss puts the Lobos at 5-4 overall for the season. UNM will be going on the road for the first time in a month and the second time this year on March 13.
UNM will play against the University of Hawaii, Purdue University and Navy on Hawaii's home court.
