Feb. 7, 2010
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The 50th-ranked University of New Mexico men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to undefeated, 63rd-ranked Denver Sunday afternoon at the Linda Estes Tennis Center. The Pioneers improve to 6-0 overall while UNM drops to 2-3.
“Both matches this weekend were against good teams,” head coach Alan Dils said. “We would have liked to have won both, but we knew that was going to be tough going in. I am happy where we are at. We are still young. We still have a lot to learn. We are working on them and getting better every match. Denver is a team we have a good rivalry with, so there is a lot of energy in the match and that is exactly what is going to happen every single match we play in conference. This is what gets us ready for that.”
Denver started strong by securing the doubles point. While the Pioneers took an easy victory at the No. 3 slot, 8-2, the Lobos put up a fight at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Ben Dunbar and Jadon Phillips tied the match five times at the No. 2 hole, but their last tie would come at 5-5 before Yannick Weihs and Jens Vorkefeld took over to win, 8-6. While that win gave DU the doubles point, Carl Ho and Phil Anderson also went back and forth at the No. 1 slot before allowing five unanswered points to lose 8-3.
“I thought we were flat on doubles and let them come out and dictate what we were doing,” Dils said. “They came out and had more energy then we did. We were just kind of going out and hoping in doubles instead of making things happen.”
With Denver up 1-0, freshman Phillips knotted the match at one-all with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 3 spot. Phillips defeated Fabio Biasion to improve to 3-2 in dual singles this season. From there, Denver rapidly clinched two more points with wins at the No. 4 and No. 6 spots.
Joe Wood cut the lead to 3-2 with a three-set win at the No. 5 position. Wood lost 4-6 in the opening set before blanking Vorkefeld, 6-0, in the second set and picking up a 7-5 third set win. It would not be enough, however, as Yannick Weihs captured the Denver win at the No. 1 spot over Ho. Ho opened the match with a 7-6 (7-4) first set win before dropping the next two, 6-1, 6-4.
The Lobos will host Abilene Christian next Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. at the Linda Estes Tennis Center on south campus before hitting the road for seven straight matches.
#63 Denver 4, #50 New Mexico 3
Singles
1. Yannick Weihs (DEN) def. Carl Ho (NM) 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-4
2. Ben Dunbar (NM) def. David Simson (DEN) 5-7, 6-3, retired
3. Jadon Phillips (NM) def. Fabio Biasion (DEN) 6-3, 6-3
4. Enej Bonin (DEN) def. Phil Anderson (NM) 7-5, 7-5
5. Joe Wood (NM) def. Jens Vorkefeld (DEN) 4-6, 6-0, 7-5
6. Andrew Landwerlen (DEN) def. Conor Berg (NM) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles
1. David Simson/Andrew Landwerlen (DEN) def. Phil Anderson/Carl Ho (NM) 8-3
2. Yannick Weihs/Jens Vorkefeld (DEN) def. Ben Dunbar/Jadon Phillips (NM) 8-6
3. Fabio Biasion/Enej Bonin (DEN) def. Joe Wood/Conor Berg (NM) 8-2
Match Notes:
Denver Pioneers 6-0; National ranking #63
University of New Mexico 2-3; National ranking #50
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,6,4,5,1,2)