Box Score: DePaul
Box Score: Utah
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M—The University of New Mexico men’s tennis squad faced DePaul and No. 53 Utah today. They played at home for the first time this season and pulled off a 6-1 win against DePaul and a 7-0 upset against No. 53 Utah.
The Lobos faced DePaul first. In doubles play, No. 16 duo Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen made quick work of their opponent at the number one position and defeated them 6-2.
At the number two position, Rodolfo Jauregui and Augustus Ge took on Jan-Willem Feilzer and Alez Galoustian. The Lobos fell behind early in the match and could not make a comeback. They fell 6-3.
The doubles point came down to the match at the number three position. Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Jorge Escutia took on DePaul’s Sten Leusink and Nathan de Veer. The two battled closely throughout the match, but the Lobos were always trailing one game behind. It wasn’t enough, and DePaul clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win over New Mexico.
In singles play, Sabatka and Van Leijsen defeated their opponents at the number one and two positions respectively. First, Sabatka defeated Sten Leusink 6-2, 6-2. Van Leijsen followed shortly after when he topped Alez Galoustian 6-2, 6-4.
At the number five position, Ge played against DePaul’s Kyle Johnson. He defeated Johnson 6-3, 6-3.
Escutia was next to finish after his match with Paul John. The two battled to four games in the first set before Escutia pulled ahead and won the set 6-4. In the second, Escutia kept the momentum and won 6-2 winning his match, and clinching the match for the Lobos.
The remaining two matches at the number four and six position will head into a third set, ten-point tiebreaker. At this point Hernandez-Tong was heading into his third set anyway after winning the first 6-4 and falling in the second 7-5.
In Hernandez-Tong’s tiebreaker he trailed 6-3 in the beginning. He fought hard and came back to tie it at seven. From there it went back and forth, point for point, until Hernandez-Tong pulled away an won the tiebreaker 13-11.
Sean Baklini competed against Jan-Willem Feilzer at the number six position. He won the first set 7-6. His second set lasted past all the other matches. He went to five games with his opponent before he won the match 7-5.
The Lobos lost the doubles point to start, but swept DePaul in singles winning the match 6-1.
In their second match of the day, the Lobos took on No. 53 Utah. In doubles play, Ge and Jauregui defeated Utah’s Egbert Weverink and Santiago Sierra 6-2. Clinching the doubles point for the Lobos was the duo at the number two position. Hernandez-Tong and Escutia topped Parker McGuiness and Johan Jonhagen 6-3 to put New Mexico on the board.
The match at the number one position was left unfinished. Sabatka and Van Leijsen were trailing 5-4.
In singles play, Van Leijsen was first to finish when he defeated Dan Little at the number two position 6-4, 6-3.
Putting another point on the board for New Mexico was Jorge Escutia who defeated David Micevski 6-2, 6-3. Quickly after, Ge topped Parker McGuiness to clinch the 4-0 upset over Utah for the Lobos. He won 6-4, 6-3.
Sabatka was already in the third sets of his match before the match was clinched, so he played out the rest of his third set. At the number four and six position, Hernandez-Tong and Baklini went into a third set ten-point tiebreaker.
Hernandez-Tong started strong and was up on Weverink 4-1. The two battled hard, but Hernandez-Tong kept his lead and won the tiebreaker 10-7. Baklini met the same fate as his teammate as he topped Santiago Sierra 10-7 in his tiebreaker as well.
The match at the number one position seemed to be the match of the night as the players battled to a full three sets. Sabatka won his first set 7-5, but fell in the second 6-2. He fought back in the third to win 5-4. With this win the Lobos sweep No. 53 Utah 7-0.
“It was a complete team effort today,” said head coach Bart Scott. “Aside from the nervous start in doubles against DePaul, the boys responded and found ways to win. Augie and Rodolfo set the tone for the night against Utah getting out to that 5-1 lead, then in singles we ripped off 4 quick sets to take command of the match. We are very happy to be home!”
The Lobos look forward to March 5 where they take on BYU at home followed by a doubleheader against Air Force.