April 14, 2005
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ON TAP THIS WEEKEND: The 60th-ranked Lobos wrap up the regular season in Colorado Springs with three MWC matches. On Friday, New Mexico takes on host Air Force followed by No. 37 San Diego State on Saturday and 51st-ranked UNLV on Sunday. All matches are scheduled for 2 p.m.
REACHING THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN: The end of Mountain West Conference competition is finally here and whether or not the Lobos share a portion of the regular season crown, is up to them. New Mexico, ranked No. 60 and 1-1 in the MWC, will need to win all three matches in Colorado Springs, Colo. this weekend to finish 4-1. No. 53 BYU has finished its regular season competition with a 4-1 record. The only team who has a chance to claim sole possession of the title is San Diego State, ranked 37th and currently 3-0 in the MWC.
LOBOS LAST TIME OUT: Weekend host BYU spoiled New Mexico’s Mountain West Conference opener with a 6-1 win in Provo Friday afternoon. The loss ended the eight-match win streak that UNM held over MWC opponents dating back to the beginning of the 2004 season. Senior Derek Boland netted the lone point for New Mexico, beating Dominik Kaufold 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 at No. 6. Freshman Max Jones’ 11-match win streak came to an end as he fell 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 to Nima Roshan at No. 1. The Lobos rebounded from Friday’s loss by beating No. 63 Utah, 4-3 in their final match at BYU. The Utes jumped out to a 1-0 lead by snatching the doubles point. Freshmen Max Jones and Kamil Pajkowski won the lone doubles match for New Mexico, downing Jason Yap and Nick Coutts, 9-8. In singles, Jones and Ganger, arguably the best two freshmen in the conference, battled into three sets at No. 2 before Jones came away victorious, winning 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Stotland knocked off Tomasz Grzyb at No. 1, 7-6, 7-5 while Kowalski got revenge against Mann, winning 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3. Senior Derek Boland won his fourth consecutive singles match, netting a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6.
FINDING OUT THE FALCONS: Air Force is on a two-match losing streak after close 4-3 losses to Utah and BYU last weekend. The Falcons are 16-6 overall and 0-2 in the MWC. They have played five ranked teams this year for a 3-2 record. Shannon Buck, the highest-ranked MWC singles player at No. 58, leads the Falcons with a 20-2 overall record, going 16-1 at No. 1 singles. Tyler McClung is just as solid at No. 2, posting a 17-6 overall record after an 11-5 mark at No. 2. In doubles, Buck and McClung rank 24th with a 16-2 overall record and 11-1 mark at No. 1.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE: San Diego State enters the weekend ranked 37th in the nation thanks to its eight-match win streak. The Aztecs are 12-5 overall and 3-0 in the MWC. They have played an extremely tough schedule that includes 10 ranked opponents including five in the top-25. They are 5-5 against ranked teams. SDSU has two ranked singles players in No. 64 Benedikt Stronk and No. 82 Armando Carrascosa. Stronk is 12-11 overall and 6-7 at No. 1 while Carrascosa is 16-12 overall and 6-8 in dual matches. Stronk and Carrascosa team up at No. 1 doubles where they are 8-3 and 10-4 overall.
REPORTING ON THE REBELS: UNLV, ranked No. 51, is 14-6 overall, 1-2 in the MWC but just 4-5 when away from home. The Rebels have faced 11 ranked teams for a 6-5 record that includes a huge 4-3 upset of then 10th-ranked Oklahoma State. UNLV is led by a trio of singles players in No. 63 Henner Nehles, Aviram Salomon and Joel Kielbowicz. Nehles is 24-8 overall and 15-5 at No. 1 while Salomon is 12-8 overall and 4-5 in dual matches and Kielbowicz is 19-8 overall and 10-2 at No. 2. In doubles, Nehles and Salomon have the best record for UNLV at No. 1, going 5-1 but Nehles has also paired with Sean Hubbard at No. 1 for a 2-2 record and Kielbowicz has teamed with David Campbell to post a 4-3 record at No. 1.
UNM VS. AIR FORCE: New Mexico holds a 24-2 series advantage over the Falcons, who have not beaten the Lobos since 1989 as UNM has won seven straight. Last time these two met was in Albuquerque last year as New Mexico opened the MWC regular season with a 6-1 over the Academy.
Seniors David Kowalski and Ryan Stotland are ranked 5th in the nation. |
UNM VS. SDSU: The Lobos won both matches against San Diego State last year to improve to 23-15 all-time against the Aztecs. The last time these two teams met was on SDSU’s home court in the championship match of the MWC Tournament. UNM won the match and MWC crown with a 4-3 win after then-senior Divan Coetzee rebounded from a first set loss to win at No. 1 over Felix Hardt.
UNM VS. UNLV: New Mexico has won three straight and six of the last seven against the Rebels. The Lobos hold a slight 12-8 series advantage. The last time these two met was in Albuquerque as UNM claimed a 5-2 win en route to a perfect 5-0 MWC regular season.
MARVELOUS Max Jones: Freshman Max Jones has been nearly perfect for New Mexico in dual matches. Jones is currently 12-1 (3-1 at No. 1, 7-0 at No. 2, 2-0 at No. 3) in singles and has a team high 23 wins for the year. He has been a driving force in doubles, losing only four dual matches this year. He is 6-4 at No. 2 with freshman Kamil Pajkowski and 2-0 when stepping up to play with senior Ryan Stotland at No. 1.
SENSATIONAL STOTLAND: Senior Ryan Stotland has also been a dominant figure in the Lobo lineup. Stotland is 5-3 at No. 1 singles, 2-2 at No. 2 and 18-9 overall. But his biggest contribution comes in doubles, where he is ranked fifth in the nation with senior David Kowalski. Stotland and Kowalski are 20-8 overall and 7-3 at No. 1. Stotland has had to partner with Jones twice because of a nagging leg injury to Kowalski.
BOLAND BREAKS OUT: Senior Derek Boland has come on strong lately, winning four straight singles matches in which three were quick two-set wins where Boland won four sets by a score of 6-2 or less. Boland recently had a three-match doubles win streak in which he won two of them by scores of 8-3.
ROCKY ROAD: New Mexico, 7-6 overall, has not had the best of luck on the road this year. The Lobos are 3-5 away from Albuquerque compared to its 9-6 record last year but have arguably played a much tougher schedule. When the season is over, New Mexico will have played 13 ranked opponents, including four in the top-50. The Lobos have also played fewer home games, playing nine last year compared to just five this year.
CHASING RECORDS: Senior David Kowalski is going to break records at UNM. He is currently second all-time in career doubles wins with 96, needing just three more for a school record. He is also tied fifth all-time in career singles wins with 78, trailing leaders Divan Coetzee and Pepe Caballero by 18.
In the poll for Jan. 13, Kowalksi and classmate Ryan Stotland were ranked No. 3 in the nation in doubles by the ITA. That ranking made them the highest in the history of the men’s tennis program.
This duo also set a new standard for the program. In the fall, Stotland and Kowalski were the first to make it to the finals of a nation tournament, taking the stage at the ICY HOT/ITA All-American Championships. They are also aiming to be the first All-Americans for UNM since 1999.
Freshman Max Jones has the most singles wins of any Lobo this season. |
JONES FOR MWC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: The University of New Mexico men’s tennis program has never had a player win the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year award. So far this year, freshman Max Jones has made a strong case for it.
Jones is 23-7 overall in singles and 15-9 overall in doubles. In dual matches, he is 12-1 in singles with a 3-1 record at No. 1, 7-0 record at No. 2 and 2-0 markat No. 3. In doubles he is 2-0 at No. 1 when needed to step up and play with senior Ryan Stotland due to an injury of senior David Kowalski. He is also 6-4 at No. 2 with fellow classmate Kamil Pajkowski.
Arguably, the other top-two freshmen in the conference are Utah’s Zach Ganger and BYU’s Shane LaPorte. Both of these freshmen are the only others with a similar number of wins as Ganger is 19-12 overall while LaPorte is 19-10.
Ganger and Jones finally squared off in Provo, Utah last weekend with Jones getting the 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win at No. 2. Also, both Utah and New Mexico went to Boise, Idaho for matches with Pennsylvania and No. 47 Boise State. In those matches, both Ganger and Jones played at No. 2 against Penn’s David Lynn and Boise State’s Thomas Schoeck. Ganger lost to Lynn, 6-3, 7-5 and to Schoeck, 6-2, 6-3. Jones, on the other hand, beat Lynn 6-0, 7-6 and Schoeck 7-6, 6-4.
Jones did not get to face LaPorte when UNM took on BYU because Jones was playing at No. 1 while LaPorte was at No. 4.
Jones has already been named the conference’s Player of the Week once. He earned the honor on Feb. 2 for his undefeated efforts in Seattle, Wash. against 21st-ranked Washington and 55th-ranked Michigan State. Jones is the only freshman to earn the honor this year. The last time a freshman won the honor was March 27, 2002 when UNLV’s Aviram Salomon won it just a month before claiming the Freshman of the Year honor. In the MWC’s six-year history, only five freshmen have earned the honor including UNM’s David Kowalski. San Diego State’s Oliver Maiberger, 2000 Freshman of the Year, is the only freshman to win the honor twice. The only year a freshman won the Player of the Week honor and did not win Freshman of the Year was Air Force’s Justin Mancinelli in 2001 and Kowalski in 2002. In 2002 however, Salomon also won Player of the Week and Freshman of the Year.
IN THE RANKINGS: The Intercollegiate Tennis Association has ranked the Lobos as the 60th best team in the country as of April 12. In the weeks prior, New Mexico was ranked No. 59, 54 and 69. They started the season 65th.
The Lobo are 7-6 overall, having faced eight ranked opponents so far. UNM is 3-6 against ranked foes with their biggest win being the 4-3 upset of 31st-ranked Boise State. The other ranked wins were a 4-3 victory over then 55th-ranked Michigan State, which has recently dropped down to a tie for 75th with three other schools and the 4-3 win over then-No. 63 Utah. Arguably, the Lobos toughest challenge this season was the 6-1 loss to No. 12 Washington.
Kowalski and Stotland, at 20-8 overall and 7-3 in dual matches this year, started out the spring season ranked No. 3 in the nation. They have faced nine different teams in the top-25, going 5-5 after taking on Schoeck and Shields twice. Their best win was an 8-5 win over then-No. 1 and currently No. 3 Sam Warburg and KC Corkery of Stanford in Oct. at the ICY HOT/ITA All-American Championships. They just barely missed beating the current No. 1 team in the nation, Scott Green and Ross Wilson of Ohio State, falling 9-7 in the championship match of the All-Americans.
The Lobos have one ranked opponent left, No. 24 Tyler McClung and Shannon Buck of Air Force on April 15 at Air Force.
The next team poll and singles and doubles poll will be released April 19.