March 28, 2007
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THIS WEEK IN LOBO MEN’S TENNIS: New Mexico, ranked No. 47 with an 11-5 overall record, dives into Mountain West Conference action this weekend. The Lobos are in San Diego, Calif. for three matches, playing No. 69 BYU on Friday at 10 a.m. PT/11 a.m. MT, No. 52 San Diego State on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT and No. 72 Utah on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT/noon MT.
IN THE RANKINGS: The Lobos dropped seven spots in the latest FILA/ITA national rankings, going from No. 40 to No. 47. The current ranking is the highest in the Mountain West Conference, followed by San Diego State at No. 52, BYU at No. 69, Utah at No. 72 and TCU at No. 74.
Junior Chris Parkes, 12-2 in singles, 11-4 in doubles, is No. 173 in the singles poll. Utah’s Zach Ganger is the MWC’s highest ranking singles player, coming in at No. 51 but San Diego State’s Markus Dickhardt is right on his heels at No. 52.
LOOKING AT THE LOBOS: New Mexico, 11-5 overall, has lost two straight heading into the weekend. The Lobos have been perfect at home (8-0) and at neutral sites (3-0) but they haven’t been able to win on opponents’ courts, going 0-5.
Sophomore Johnny Parkes was the only Lobo to win both his singles matches this past weekend, netting a huge three-set upset over Texas’ No. 58 Milan Mihailovic. On the weekend, juniors Kamil Pajkowski and Chris Parkes and sophomore Graeme Kassautzki each earned one singles win.
UNM has struggled in doubles lately, losing the doubles point in three of its last five matches, including two straight. This past weekend, junior Max Jones and Pajkowski teamed up for a win at No. 1 on Sunday while Chris Parkes and Kassautzki earned one at No. 3 on Saturday.
COVERING THE COUGARS: BYU, 9-9 overall, has taken on four consecutive ranked teams, coming out victorious in just one with a 5-2 win over Stanford. The Cougars and Lobos aren’t strangers, taking on each other in the semifinals on the ITA/Mountain Regional Team Playoffs on Jan. 20 in Boise, Idaho. The Lobos blanked BYU, winning 4-0.
James Ludlow, ranked No. 105, and Christian Hand lead the Cougars in singles action. Ludlow is 16-10 in singles but has lost three straight at No. 1. Hand is 17-8 in singles, winning six straight at No. 3.
In doubles, Ludlow usually teams with Dominik Kaufhold at No. 1 while Hand pairs with Jonathan Sanchez at No. 2. Ludlow and Kaufhold are 8-6 in dual matches while Hand and Sanchez are 9-5.
Before BYU faces UNM, the Cougars kick off MWC action on Thursday, March 29 with UNLV.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs are cruising on a four-match win streak and have won seven of their last eight for a 9-6 overall record. SDSU has played 10 ranked teams so far, splitting at 5-5.
Markus Dickhardt and Christian Groh lead San Diego State in singles, earning national rankings of No. 52 and No. 92, respectively. Dickhardt is 19-5 overall, 13-2 in dual matches, 9-1 at No. 1 and has won 11 straight. Groh is 16-10 overall and 4-3 at No. 2, winning four of his last six matches at that spot.
Dickhardt and Groh team up in doubles, ranking 17th in the nation with an 8-3 overall record. They are 4-2 in dual matches, playing all the contests at No. 1.
REVIEWING THE UTES: Utah, 10-6 overall, had its three-game win streak snapped last week, going up against two top-65 teams in Princeton (currently No. 65) and San Diego (currently No. 62). The Utes open the weekend with 74th-ranked TCU on Friday, followed by UNLV on Saturday.
Zach Ganger leads the Utah attack, ranking No. 51 in singles with a 23-8 overall record. However, he has lost two straight, falling to 9-5 at No. 1.
Ganger teams with Miron Mann at the top spot in doubles, producing a 10-3 record. The pair has won four of their last six matches.
HISTORY LESSONS: The all-time series with BYU is very close but the Cougars hold the advantage, 27-23-1. The Lobos snapped a three-match losing streak to BYU in the fall with a 4-0 win in the opener at the ITA/Mountain Team Regional Playoff. Sophomores Johnny Parkes and Miles Bugby along with juniors Kamil Pajkowski and Chris Parkes earned two-set wins.
New Mexico holds a 23-17 all-time series record against San Diego State but with a two-match losing streak in tact, there is not a single current Lobo to witness a victory over the Aztecs. Last year, SDSU won 5-2 in Salt Lake City. In that match, UNM won the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and 3 and Max Jones picked up the lone singles victory at No. 1 in two sets over Christian Groh.
Last year Utah edged out New Mexico by a point (4-3) in Salt Lake City, snapping the Lobos’ 15-match win streak dating back to 1994. The Utes claimed the doubles point despite at win at No. 2 by Johnny Parkes and Miles Bugby, then split singles action with the Lobos. Parkes, Graeme Kassautzki and Kamil Pajkowski won at Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively.