Lobo Men's Tennis Summer Round-up
School starts on Monday for our 2017-18 New Mexico Men’s Tennis Team and this is a great time for me to update you and catch the fans up on our program as a lot has gone down over and during the summer. We have had a great summer recruiting and finding the next Lobos for the upcoming years, and we also invested some good time on the practice and match courts.
Returning Letterwinners
Senior – Bart Van Leijsen
Bart has spent the Summer in Summer school and excelling in the classroom. Bart finished his junior year ranked No. 6 in the ITA Mountain Region among returning players for singles and No. 1 in returning doubles, pairing with Dominic West. I think he had an under-the-radar spring and we hope he carries some of the momentum he was gaining at the end of last year into a strong senior year. It’s crazy to think that Bart will graduate with his Business degree in the Spring. He has been a model student-athlete and he is someone we are very proud of to be a leader on our team.
Senior – Jorge Escutia
Jorge spent the summer working hard on his game and in the classroom. Jorge will also graduate in May 2018 and he has positioned himself to graduate with honors after some stellar work on his degree subject. Jorge took the summer to get healthy and change some pieces of his game and Robin and I are excited to see his development as a senior leader who always does the right thing.
Redshirt Senior – Sean Baklini
For me Sean is one of the best “Cinderella stories” in college sports. A local product from Eldorado High School, Sean has really epitomized what it means to be an exemplary student-athlete. He is coming off his most influential year as a Lobo yet where he locked down a doubles lineup spot and played some important singles matches too. We hope to see his continued growth in the 2017-18 season. Something you may not know about Sean, as well as working on campus, he is taking 18 credit hours towards his M.B.A and playing on our team. Sean has already received his undergrad degree from UNM and will graduate in May with his Master’s degree.
Junior – Ricky Hernandez-Tong
Ricky had a very productive Sophomore year for the Lobos and he has had a busy Summer with Summer school and working out. Ricky stayed in Albuquerque hitting a lot all Summer so he should be the most ready for a season he has ever been. Ricky is ranked No. 5 among returners in the ITA Mountain Region in singles which is the highest returning ranking on our team. I am excited to see Ricky develop further this year, as every year he amazes me with how much he pushes to get better and his level has really elevated during his time here as a Lobo. We are excited to see him continue to improve.
Redshirt Junior – Michael Tran
Michael is another outstanding local product and he has phenomenal drive to achieve in all aspects of his life. Michael is a 4.0 student and a great leader in the classroom for this team. I am proud of him because he has got out on the ITA circuit this summer and played a lot of matches. Michael was injured last year, and he is now healthy so we are excited to see him develop this year and play a bigger role in our on-court successes.
Sophomore – Dominic West
Dom had a very busy summer competing in Europe. Perhaps the highlight for us as a program was Dom representing us in the Wimbledon Junior draw, playing in the singles qualifying and doubles main draw. What is exciting about Dom is that he has only touched on his potential, we are looking forward to Dom working with Andrew and getting stronger and developing a bigger and more imposing game. Dom is the ultimate competitor and he will be a fun one for our Lobo fans to watch in the coming years because I believe there are big things coming for this young man.
NEWCOMERS
Freshman – Tim Buttner
I recently watched Tim play at a match in his home town of Frankfurt, it was exciting to see him compete with such a mature head and in a team environment. Having played in the German fFutures matches and the German Open Division, he will bring some great and diverse experience to the program. We are excited to have Tim join us and I think the addition of he and his friend Philip Stockmar will lead to exciting times for Lobo Tennis.
Freshman – Philip Stockmar
Philip is going to be a fun player to watch for Lobo Tennis fans. He has some real weapons and we are excited to help him develop his game further in his time at New Mexico. Philip has also played extensively in Germany in the open division and was a highly ranked junior in the German U18 rankings. We are excited to add these two friends and they will help to develop our family atmosphere here at UNM.
As a team, we are excited to start working out again, Andrew Stuart who is our athletic performance coach, does a fabulous job with our guys during the Fall, helping them get stronger and stay injury-free. Our first tournament will be to take some of the guys down to the New Mexico State Invitational and then our Fall event will be held here on our courts September 29 through October 1 (look for more information to come on this). It has been a great Summer and Robin and I are excited to start being able to hit with the guys and get a feel for where we are at starting the new year. As always Go Lobos, please contact me if you have any questions on our team. My email is bdunbar@unm.edu.