by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
If there were any concerns about being rusty, the Lobos quickly put them to rest.
After a three-week hiatus, the No. 66 UNM men's tennis team bounced back with victories over NMSU, Nevada and Sacramento State on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the UNM Tennis
Complex.
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Head coach Alan Dils said he was pleased with his team's
performance.
"If I was grading us, I would give us a B-plus," he said. "We had three weeks off, and you do that, and sometimes you lose a little match toughness. It showed just a little bit, but we got some of the kinks out. Overall, I don't think we are 100 percent yet, but we're not too far off."
The Lobos opened play Friday with a 6-1 victory over NMSU.
Getting the first win was critical to the rest of the matches,
Dils said.
"You always want to open the weekend with a win," he said. "On another note, it's New Mexico State. They are a big in-state rival, and we want to do well
against them."
UNM captured the doubles point against the Aggies, as well as 5-of-6 singles matches.
The only loss came at the No. 3 spot, as NMSU's Gustave Diep defeated Max Jones 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in a third-set tiebreaker.
The match marked the return of Jones, who has been out of action since Feb. 2 with a right-side pectoral injury.
Dils said the team is stronger with Jones.
"Max, in his first match back, showed a bit of rustiness," he said. "With every match he plays, he'll keep improving. We're just glad to have him back now that he is healthy."
Jones responded Saturday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Nevada's Eldar Dzhafarov.
Jones said the match was an improvement on Friday's result.
"I am happy the way I am progressing and just getting better with each match," he said. "I'm just glad to be back with the team and helping to get us another win."
The team shut out Nevada 7-0, losing only at the No. 3
doubles spot.
At the No. 3 doubles spot, the Lobos were 0-3 on the weekend.
Dils said the team will work on doubles in the upcoming weeks.
"I think we can do a better job in doubles overall, especially at three doubles," he said.
On Sunday, UNM captured a 4-3 victory over Sacramento State to conclude the weekend.
After dropping the doubles point, UNM responded with wins at the No. 3, 5, and 6
singles spots.
Sophomore Miles Bugby clinched the match for the Lobos, winning 6-4, 7-6 over Sacramento State's Warwick Foy.
Bugby said he was in unfamiliar territory with the outcome of the match on his shoulders.
"I've never really been in that position before," he said. "I thought Alan (Dils) was kidding when he told me my match was important. I thought that with the guys off, we had already won it. Luckily, I managed to pull through. It was huge being love-40 down and winning points with three big serves to get me back into it and help me in the tie-breaker."
Dils said Bugby raised his game when it mattered most.
"When push came to shove, he did a good job," he said. "But it's getting to that point that he should be handling the pressure better earlier. I don't think it would come to that point. But it's nice to see that he played a very good tie-breaker."
With wins at the bottom four positions on Sunday, there is no weak spot on the team, Dils said.
"We have depth, and that's really the strength of our team," he said. "We definitely showed that this weekend. We obviously have the talent on top, but it's the bottom guys that gives us the opportunity to beat anybody, and that's our goal."
