The Lobos entered the Mountain West Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed, with high aspirations of walking away with a conference championship and automatic NCAA bid.
Last year, UNM was knocked out by UNLV in the quarterfinal of the tournament. The Lobos made it to the semi-final round before being eliminated by Boise State 4-2 in the previous year, and hoped to make a deep again this time around.
But their goal was dashed by the No. 5 seed, San Diego State, in the quarterfinal round. Both sides won four conference matches and lost three during the regular season, meaning their seeding was determined by a tiebreaker which looked at national ranking.
New Mexico and San Diego State played each other earlier in the season, with the Aztecs emerging with a 4-2 victory on the Lobos home court at the McKinnon Family Tennis Center.
Before the quarterfinal match, UNM head coach Ben Dunbar seemed to be full of optimism.
“We beat the team that won the regular season already this year, (Utah State) so we know we can do it,” Dunbar said. “We now have to commit to doing the right things and enjoy the pressure that comes with the Conference Tournament. I am seeing some great things for this team and we are optimistic about what we can achieve in the Conference Tournament.”
San Diego State (10-14, 4-3 MW) had won each of their last five matches, a run that ended a nine-match losing streak. The team appeared to be peaking at the right time, heading into the tournament.
Team standout performer Marko Goles-Babic, a senior, won 16 of his 26 singles matches during the season and took six of his eight doubles matches while paired with fellow senior Milen Ianakiev.
Unlike the Aztecs, the Lobos’ form this season had been mixed—with promising winning streaks frequently broken up by surprising and uncharacteristic losses.
UNM (12-12, 4-3 MW) won three of their last five matches, with sophomore Ricky Hernandez-Tong and freshman Dominic West have posting 30 singles wins between the two over the season.
In doubles, West and junior Bart Van Leijsen recorded 10 wins, a feat that helped lead the Lobos to win seven of their last nine doubles points.
That trend continued on Friday, with UNM jumping out to a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point over SDSU. But the team could not carry that momentum into singles play.
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San Diego State surged ahead by taking the first two singles matches. Joel Popov defeated UNM’s Lawerence Perrin in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. And teammate Marko Goles-Babic took out Bart Van Leijsen, 6-3, 6-4.
West evened the score at 2-2 after he dispatched of SDSU’s Sander Anderson, 6-2, 6-2, but the Lobos could not garner any more team points.
Unfortunately for the Lobos, SDSU triumphed 4-2 once again, taking the next two singles matches and ending UNM’s season. The win propelled the Aztecs into the semi-final round.
It could be argued that New Mexico developed a “California curse” this season, losing all nine of their meetings with teams that call California home, including two losses to Fresno State and another pair to San Diego State.
Matthieu Cartron is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cartron_matt.
