LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team is headed to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete in the 2014 USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Championships taking place Oct. 15-19 at the Darling Tennis Center.
Twenty schools from around the Mountain region will join the Lobos in the five-day battle for a regional title and a spot in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, held Nov. 6-9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
“This is a big tournament,” head coach Bart Scott said. “It’s a good gauge to see where everyone is individually but also as a team. The strongest teams will advance many of their players through so coaches get an early look at what to expect for the spring season as well. We’ve had a productive fall this far. The guys are buying in and working really hard.”
The regional championships will feature a 128-player singles draw and a 64-team doubles draw. Final draws have not yet been released.
Lobo Lineup
The Lobos have a total of eight participants competing in this year’s regional championships:
Samir Iftikhar (senior), James Hignett (senior), Mitchell McDaniels (RS senior), Hayden Sabatka (sophomore), Rodolfo Jauregui (RS sophomore), Sean Baklini (RS freshman), Shunji Hirooka (RS freshman), and Bart Van Leijsen (freshman)
Strong Regionals History
UNM has a history of success at the regional championships as they have had a finalist the last four years. Former Lobo Jadon Phillips represented the Lobos in the singles championship in 2010 and 2011. Phillips and teammate Phil Anderson also competed in the doubles championship match in 2010.
Current Lobo Samir Iftikhar has made it to the final match of the singles competition the last two years (2012 and 2013), but he has yet to claim the title. However, this may be the year that Iftikhar takes home the singles championship title that he has come so close to. The UNM senior has had an impressive fall season so far as he recently made a deep run at the ITA All-American Championships that began in late September. Iftikhar picked up two major upset victories over Virginia Tech’s No. 14 Amerigo Cantini and Drake’s No. 37 Alen Salibasic and also became the first Lobo competitor to make it to the round of 16 in singles action at the All-Americans.
“Sam has a legitimate chance to win the tournament the way he’s playing right now,” Scott said. “We have a handful of guys that can make deep runs this year. Once you go deep in a tournament then all bets are off and it’s anyone’s tournament. We’ve had a finalist the last four years in a row, so we’re confident and excited to see how this tournament will unfold. With a spot in the USTA/ITA National Indoors up for grabs, the quality of competition should be very high.”
Follow Regional Action
Follow along with the action on the UNM men’s tennis Facebook and Twitter pages. Full results and recaps will also be posted on golobos.com at the end of each day.
About ITA Regionals
More than 8,000 student-athletes from NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA, Junior and Community Colleges compete in the 2014 USTA/ITA Regional Championships. In the USTA/ITA Division I Regional Championships, NCAA Division I men and women face off with singles and doubles champions from each of the twelve regions advancing into the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, held November 6-9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NY.