April 14, 2010
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.–The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team closes out its home season with two matches this week. The Lobos (6-10, 1-3 MWC) will face No. 48 Boise State on Thursday, April 15 before taking on conference rival and 63rd-ranked TCU on Sunday, April 18. Both matches will be at 1 p.m. at the Linda Estes Tennis Center on south campus.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
UNM looks to rebound from a pair of 4-3 losses to conference opponents UNLV and San Diego State last weekend. The young Lobos look to end a three-match losing streak as they have not lost four matches in a row since the 2000 season. Fortunately, the Lobos sport a 5-2 home record this season and are 23-4 at home over the past three seasons.
SCOUTING BOISE STATE AND TCU
The Broncos are coming off a pair of 6-1 wins over New Mexico State and Nevada that sent them to a 16-9 overall record and a 5-1 WAC record. Boise State holds the all-time advantage over UNM at 12-5 as UNM has not defeated the Broncos since 2005. The Broncos advanced to the NCAA tournament round of 16 in 2009, falling to No. 3 Ohio State, and finished last season 24-9. James Meredith holds the No. 42 singles ranking in the nation.
TCU has undoubtedly been one of UNM’s biggest recent rivals. The Lobos beat the Horned Frogs 4-3 in last year’s MWC Championship match after TCU had done the same to UNM in 2008. Like Boise State, TCU has fared well against UNM with an all-time record of 13-5. TCU owns an 8-10 record, 2-2 in MWC play. The Horned Frogs will host Air Force at home on Friday before closing out their conference season at UNM. Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price check in at No. 67 in the nation for doubles combinations.
OTHER NOTES
UNM has used 10 different doubles combinations during the dual season, including six different pairs at the No. 2 slot.
Head coach Alan Dils, in his 14th season, is 10 wins shy of 200 with a 190-128 career coaching mark at UNM.
The Lobos have a small winning edge in singles duals with a 48-46 mark in the spring season. Overall, spring and fall combined, UNM is 97-82 in singles for a .542 percentage.
FEELING FRESH
Freshmen Conor Berg and Jadon Phillips are making strong statements as Berg has a seven-match singles win streak and a five-match doubles win streak. Phillips has posted a 10-6 spring record, going 9-3 at the No. 3 position for the Lobos.
Berg picked up two wins last weekend to improve to 4-0 in MWC action. He has not lost a singles match since March 6 when the Lobos played then-ranked No. 22 Washington. Berg had lost four in a row, as the freshman started the season 2-6. He is now 9-5 in dual play and 17-10 overall.
PARTNERS IN CRIME
Berg and Ben Dunbar have pieced together a five-match win streak in the No. 2 doubles slot, where the tandem has posted a 4-0 conference record. Together, the two are 6-1 overall and are coming off an 8-4 win over 75th-ranked Luis Rattenhuber and Juan Gomez of San Diego State.
SERVING UP A CURE
The University of New Mexico men’s and women’s tennis teams are partnering up with the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA) to help in the fight against ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The tennis teams will coordinate a season-long campaign, Serving Up A Cure, to help raise money for ALS research.Serving Up A Cure will allow people to get involved in a couple of different ways. Donors can pledge money per match or per set won for either the men’s or women’s tennis teams. Forms to make donations and instructions for submitting them can be found at GOLOBOS.com on either the men’s or women’s tennis page. ALS affects adults of all ages, sexes and races. Every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and every 90 minutes someone dies from this disease. There is no known cause or cure and the cost for an ALS patient is $200,000 per year.
Please help the men’s and women’s tennis teams fight against ALS. For more information contact Roy Cañada at rcanada@unm.edu or at 925-5780.