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Junior Hayden Sabatka celebrates after winning a set Saturday afternoon. The Lobos played the University of Northern Arizona Monday afternoon, beating them 7-0. 

Junior Hayden Sabatka celebrates after winning a set Saturday afternoon. The Lobos played the University of Northern Arizona Monday afternoon, beating them 7-0. 

Men's Tennis: Lobos continue to play well at home

The New Mexico men’s tennis team continues its hot streak, earning another sweep at home Monday against Northern Arizona.

Windy conditions forced the event to be held at the Linda Estes Tennis Center in lieu of playing outside underneath the lights at McKinnon Family Tennis Center.

Bart Van Leijsen sat a match earlier this season to offset the extra day he and doubles partner Hayden Sabatka played when they received an invite to the USTA/ITA National Indoors.

Van Leijsen teamed with Michael Tran in doubles competition and earned and 6-4 victory in the night’s first match. Rodolfo Jauregui and Augustus Ge defeated Tim Handel and Ruben Montano by the same score to secure the doubles point and put the Lobos up 1-0.

Van Leijsen continued to play strong, competing at the number one position and taking care of Handel, 6-3, 6-4. The win put the Lobos up 2-0 and halfway to another home victory.

Jauregui, who recently began seeing more action in singles competition, cashed in on another opportunity and put the team within one point of victory with his 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Adi Zilberstein.

His doubles partner, Ge, technically netted the clinching point when he defeated Montano by the same margin, but the remaining matches may have been the most exciting as the teams decided to play them out.

Ricky Hernandez-Tong spotted his opponent a 5-0 head start in the first set, when the team outcome was still in doubt. He rebounded to complete an improbable comeback and take the first in a tiebreak. He cruised to victory, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

Jauregui said that is exactly what the team concept is all about. He said each player realizes that they are playing for something bigger than themselves. He said it is a team effort and extending matches helps out teammates.

“That’s big, a freshman doing that is awesome,” Jauregui said. “If you’re not playing good, it doesn’t matter, you have to keep trying.”

Sean Baklini staved off a late charge by Thomas Fisher to win the first set in a tiebreaker and carry the momentum to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory.

In the final match, Jorge Escutia was left on the court as the clinching or final match for the third time in as many weeks. He split the first two sets against Lucas Taylor and found himself in familiar territory.

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The players continued to trade leads throughout the tiebreak. Escutia staved off an elimination point and then took the lead 10-9. He split the next two points by staying aggressive and charging the net. He unleashed a monster first serve on match point that his opponent wasn’t able to keep in play to win, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (12-10).

Head coach Bart Scott said it is great the players found ways to win big matches like the ones that took place Monday night. He said they talked to Hernandez-Tong and Escutia about remaining calm and maintaining confidence.

“Your confidence is a lot like reputation. It takes a long, long time to build it up, but it only takes one thing and it’s gone,” Scott said. “We’ve had to fight for every shred of confidence we have, and we don’t sail our confidence down the river for anything.”

The Lobos will hit the road again and face UNLV and Montana in a doubleheader on March 25. They will play both matches in Las Vegas, Nevada beginning with UNLV at 11:00 a.m. followed by Montana at 4:00 p.m.

Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, tennis, and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.

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