April 12, 2006
Match Datesvs No. SDSU 9 a.m. April, 14at No. Utah 1 p.m. April, 15vs No. UNLV 9 a.m. April, 16
Series HistoryUNM leads SDSU 23-16UNM leads Utah 25-21UNM leads UNLV 13-8
Looking at the LobosNew Mexico (10-6, 1-2) is comming off the first of two weekends of conference play. Last weekend the lobos went 1-2 with loses to BYU, No. 29 TCU, and a victory over Air Force. The Lobos were not able to capitalize on an early 1-0 lead against BYU on Thursday as the Cougars snapped UNM’s four match win streak. TCU added another notch in the Lobos L column on Friday before the team was able to get back on track Saturday. With three matches left to play New Mexico will head up to Salt Lake City to try and improve upon a 1-2 conference start. The Lobos will need to win all three of the weekends matches and hope for some help from other teams to have any chance at another Mountain West Conference Title.
Looking at San Diego StateThe Aztecs are currently tied with TCU for first place in the MWC with an 3-0 MWC record 12-7 overall. SDSU is ranked at No. 59 by the ITA and will bring with them the #21 ranked doubles tandem in Marcus Dickhardt and Benedikt Stronk. In singles Stronk will handle the No. 1 spot while Dickhardt and Christian Groh split time at No. 2. The Aztecs are coached by Gene Carswell who is in his second year as the head tennis coach at SDSU.
Looking At The RebelsUNLV comes into the weekends matches with a 13-5 overall record and a 2-1 record in MWC play. The Rebels who are ranked #58 by the ITA suffered their first confrence loss and only home loss of the season when they fell to first place San Diego State on April, 2nd. Las Vegas native Joel Kielbowicz plays the No. 1 singles position and teams up with David Campbell at No. 1 doubles. UNLV’s second doubles team of Brett Hunter and Elliot Wronski have posted an 11-3 record in dual matches this spring. Wronski has lost just twice in singles posting an 13-2 record between positions 2-5. The Rebels are coached by Owen Hambrook who is in his third year as head coach.
Scouting UtahThe University of Utah is currently ranked No. 56 by the ITA with a 13-7 overall record and a 1-2 record in conference play. No. 15 Nick Coutts and Zach Ganger have held down the No. 1 doubles position in 2006 posting a 15-2 record. At No. 1 singles Granger splits time with Thomas Grzyb combined Utah is 11-9 at the position. F. D. Robbins enters his 19th season as the head coach. Robbins has tallied a 239-224 record since becoming the head coach in 1987.
Jones Heating UpMax Jones is showing why he is the defending Mountain West Conference Freshman of The Year. On Friday sophomore Jones defeated the 40th ranked player in the nation in Andrei Mlendea of TCU 4-6, 6-3 (10-8). With his win Saturday over AFA Trevor Johnson 6-1, 6-3 Jones improved his record at the No. 2 Position to 5-0. Jones has split time between No. 1 and No. 2 of late and his overall record is 10-6 between the two, good for a .625 winning percentage.
Whats on tapNext up for UNM is a trp to San Diego California as they compete in the Mountain West Conference Championships April, 27-29.