On a brisk, sunny afternoon, the UNM men’s tennis team took to the courts for its final home match of the season.
The Lobos lost to Boise State 5-2, to fall to 16-7 on the season.
“If we have four or five more points anywhere, we win,” UNM head coach Alan Dils said. “Our level of tennis today was better than last weekend.”
For seniors Phil Anderson, Ben Dunbar, Matthew Nield and Carl Ho, the loss marked the final home match of their careers.
Dils said the four seniors will be missed.
“I’ll hate to see these seniors go,” Dils said. “They’ve done a great job on the court and in the classroom.”
The match began on a rough note as the Lobos lost the doubles point 2-1. The two teams split the first two matches, but Boise came out on top in the third and deciding match. The pair of Ho and freshman James Hignett battled Broncos Andrew Bettles and Filipp Pogostkin to tiebreakers before eventually losing 9-7.
“It’s more like a chess match in the tiebreakers,” Ho said.
The matches were close, but the Lobos’ luck didn’t change during the singles portion of the day. The Lobos won two of six matches, and three matches took three sets to decide a winner.
The Lobos’ highlight of the afternoon came in the No. 6 match, which saw Ho defeat Boise State junior Scott Sears to win his final home match. The victory also extended Ho’s singles win streak to 12.
“I feel fortunate to play for the Lobos,” Ho said. “I don’t think about the streak. (Dils) tells us that each match starts at square one. That’s how you have to handle it.”
Another bright spot for UNM was the No. 4 match, as Lobo junior Conor Berg defeated Bronco sophomore Nathan Sereke, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (12-10), 1-0 (14-12). A tightly contested match, all three sets were settled in tiebreakers.
In the No. 1 match, Lobo junior Jadon Phillips lost to Bronco junior James Meredith in two sets 6-4, 6-2.
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The No. 2 match saw Dunbar face Boise State’s senior Damian Hume.
Dunbar lost a dramatic match, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, winning the first set in a tiebreaker before squandering leads to lose both the second and third sets.
A closely fought No. 3 match saw Anderson fall to Bronco sophomore Andrew Bettles in two sets, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), both of which went to tiebreakers.
“That’s just tennis,” Anderson said. “It was a super fun battle and hopefully I’ll win next time.”
In the No. 5 match, UNM freshman Samir Iftikhar lost to Pogostkin, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-3. In a match that reflected the intensity of the day’s play, Iftikhar lost the first set in a tiebreaker before winning the second set to force the third. Pogostkin proved too much for Iftikhar in the third set.
The Lobos will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to TCU to close out the regular season. The Mountain West Conference tournament begins on April 27 in San Diego.
