by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
If they can compete on the road the way they have at home, the Lobos should have a successful season.
The No. 61 UNM men's tennis team concluded its home schedule this weekend with victories over Radford, Minnesota and Northern Arizona at the UNM Tennis Complex.
With the wins, the Lobos improved to 11-3 on the season and are 8-0 at home.
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Any future success will have to come on the road, as UNM will not play at home again until next season.
Head coach Alan Dils said he was pleased with his team's performance.
"This weekend's wins were a team effort," he said. "Everyone played well and really stepped up to the challenge. I'm really happy with our performance."
The Lobos came back from a 2-1 deficit Thursday to beat Radford 5-2.
The team overcame a slow start to the weekend, Dils said.
"We came out flat and lost the doubles point," he said. "We had to pick it up in singles, and I give credit to the team for rallying back."
UNM then beat No. 18 Minnesota 5-2 on Friday. It was the Lobos first win over the Gophers since 1999.
After sweeping the doubles matches, the Lobos dropped the top two singles positions before rallying back for the win.
The upset gives the Lobos a lot of confidence, Miles Bugby said.
"It's brilliant beating someone of that caliber," he said. "It's good for us knowing that we can compete with higher-ranked teams."
The momentum carried over to Sunday, as the Lobos earned a 6-1 victory over NAU.
Max Jones picked up a win at the top spot, defeating NAU's Gareth Ducray, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4.
Jones said he was battling a cold during the match.
"I couldn't stop coughing the whole match," he said. "I pulled through, and it gave me my first singles win of the weekend. It's a good way to top off the weekend, so I'm happy."
Dils said he is unhappy about playing the rest of the season on the road.
"We'd like to have more home matches," he said. "I never like the way our conference does it, where every other year we don't have any home matches. Personally, I think it's ridiculous. It's always a little more stressful to go on the road, especially on our athletes with school work."
Bugby said he looks at the tough scheduling as a challenge.
"I think we like the pressure of playing on the road," he said. "We did well at Boise. I think we rise to the occasion, and it forces us to come together as a team."
