Hernandez Tong to compete in Singles Final of the ITA Mountain Regional Championships
PROVO, UTAH — The University of New Mexico’s men’s tennis team entered their third day of the ITA Regional Men’s Championships on Friday, Oct. 20. They currently stand 13-7. Ricky Hernandez Tong has also earned a spot at the 2017 ITA Fall National Intercollegiate Championship that will be held in Palm Springs, Calif., in early November.
In the doubles draw, the No. 2 duo team of Hernandez Tong and Dominic West fell Peter Trhac and David Felix of Idaho State in the quarterfinal round with a final score of 8-7.
In the singles draw, No. 6 West fell 6-2, 6-2 to New Mexico State’s Christofer Goncalves in the quarterfinal round. Goncalves was then defeated by BYU’s Sean Hill 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4 in the semifinal round.
No. 3 seeded Hernandez Tong battled in the quarterfinal match against Northern Arizona’s Tim Handel with a score of 6-6 ,1-6, 2-6. In the semifinal round, Hernandez Tong bested Utah’s David Micevski in two sets with a score of 7-5, 7-5 and will face off in the ITA Regional Championship match against BYU’s Sean Hill at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.
“It’s fantastic for our program, and for Ricky individually, to have someone in the final match here in Provo,” head coach Ben Dunbar said. “It also means we will have representation in Palm Springs at the ITA Fall National Championships in a couple weeks. Now we focus on tomorrow and I have no doubt Ricky will give it his all to bring the championship back to Albuquerque with us tomorrow. It’s going to be fun to watch him play and compete.”
Be sure and check back for Ricky’s match results tomorrow at http://events.universaltennis.com/tournaments/731/.
Also, be sure to follow the team at UNM Men’s Tennis on Facebook, @UNMMenTennis on Twitter, and @unmlobomtennis on Instagram for updates and information.