The New Mexico men’s tennis team earned a split in California on Saturday in a doubleheader against UC Irvine and Pepperdine.
Head Coach Bart Scott shook things up by separating doubles partners Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen. The pair began the season as the eighth ranked doubles team in the nation.
“We felt like it was something that needed to be done,” Scott said. “The thinking was that the change would provide a boost of energy to the doubles play.”
The move yielded results in the early matchup. Van Leijsen paired with Augustus Ge and picked up a victory over Tyler Pham and Jonathan Hammell, 6-3. UC Irvine’s Sebastian Heim and Nico Mertens evened things up by defeating New Mexico’s Jorge Escutia and Ricky Hernandez-Tong, 6-2.
The Lobos earned the lone doubles point when Sabatka and new partner Rodolfo Jauregui got by Jonathan Poon and Justin Agbayani, 6-4.
Hernandez-Tong carried the momentum into his singles match and defeated Agbayani in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Tran dropped his match to Hammel 1-6, 1-3, which put UC Irvine on the board.
With the Lobos leading two points to one, Van Leijsen widened the gap by taking care of Mertens, 6-4, 6-4. UC Irvine won the next two matches to even the score at three points apiece.
Escutia won a three set bout with Pham to earn the 4-3 team victory, winning his match 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Scott said Escutia has been a bright spot thus far in the season. He said he has been playing really consistent tennis and saw the passion come out in his singles match. He said Escutia went down a break right away in the final set, but rallied back and hit powerful forehand winners to surge ahead.
“Jorge deserves a lot of credit for getting the point that earned the team win,” Scott said. “But it is just one of four points. It’s a team effort and it takes everyone.”
The Lobos continued the day by taking Pepperdine. Scott kept the same doubles pairings and saw the Lobos split the first two matches again. Hernandez-Tong and Escutia fell to Pedro Iamachkine and Lautaro Pane, 3-6.
Sabatka and Jauregui tied things up by winning against the nation’s 17th ranked doubles pair of Guilherme Hadlich and Gabriel Sidney, 6-4. The Lobos were unable to secure the doubles point as Pepperdine’s Jack Van Slyke and Tom Hill got by Van Leijsen and Ge in a thrilling tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6).
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Tiebreakers continued to be a theme as schools engaged in three more throughout the day. Pepperdine extended its lead as Pane defeated Escutia in singles play, 6-1, 6-1.
The Lobos registered its first point as Sabatka bested Hadlich after winning a first set tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Van Leijsen could not win his tiebreaker to extend the match and fell to Stefan Menichella, 1-6, 6-7 (3-7).
Jauregui failed to force a third set, losing to Van Slyke, 2-6, 5-7, which gave Pepperdine the team win, 4-1.
Ge, who won a first set tiebreaker, was trailing in the second set of his match, and Hernandez-Tong was in the third set of his when Pepperdine earned the clinching point.
Scott said there were some tough calls in the doubles match and felt the outcome may have been different if they were able to pick up the point. He said he wasn’t sure yet how the doubles pairings will look going forward. The head coach said it is possible that Sabatka and Jauregui’s victories could result in them being ranked when the next poll is released.
He said Van Leijsen and Sabatka may have reached a point where they were relying on each other too much. Scott said he thinks the change might force them to reassert themselves as dominant players. It is possible the duo could be reunited at some point later in the season, he said.
The head coach said he was encouraged by the way the team played Saturday and the men played with the energy and effort needed to compete. He said the team will need to bring that same intensity to its next match.
The split in California puts the Lobos at 2-8 on the season. The will travel to New York to square off against Columbia next Friday.
Robert Maler is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
