LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team had another strong showing on day three of the 2014 USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Championships. The Lobos went 1-1 in singles play and 5-1 in doubles action at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
“The guys fought through some adversity and overcame some fears on the courts today,” head coach Bart Scott said. “Sam came through a very tough match today against an in-form opponent. He’ll have to step it up a notch tomorrow against Alex Gasson in the semifinals.”
Second-seeded Samir Iftikhar defeated Nevada’s Andrew Poustie, 7-5, 6-4, in quarterfinals play on Friday afternoon to earn a spot in the semifinals of the Mountain Regional Championships main draw for the third consecutive year. Iftikhar, the only Lobo still in the running for a singles title, will face ninth-seeded Alex Gasson of Denver in the semifinals on Saturday. Iftikhar has managed to make it past the semifinals the past two years, so he will look to continue that streak.
Mitchell McDaniels dropped a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 match to Denver’s Yannick James to put the Lobos at 1-1 on the day.
The Lobos also gave a dominating performance in doubles action on Friday. All three UNM doubles pairs picked up victories in the round of 16 in the doubles main draw. Iftikhar and Sean Baklini (No. 9 seed) defeated New Mexico State’s seventh-seeded duo Patrick Pfsiter and Trecakov in tight 8-7 match. Eighth-seeded James Hignett and Bart Van Leijsen moved past Utah’s Justin Archer and Johan Jonhagen, 8-5. Fourth-seeded Rodolfo Jauregui and Hayden Sabatka earned an 8-3 victory over BYU’s David Ball and Jacob Sullivan to advance in doubles play.
The success continued for two of the three doubles pairs in the quarterfinals. Hignett and Van Leijsen upset No. 2 seeded Ace Matias and Denys Pume of UNLV, 8-7, to earn a spot in the semifinals. Jauregui and Sabatka defeated Boise State’s Brian Foley and Toby Mitchell, 8-6, to put a second Lobo doubles team in semifinals action. Both UNM teams will compete in the semifinals on Saturday.
No. 1 seed duo Henry Craig and Gasson of Denver defeated Iftikhar and Baklini, 8-3, to put an end to their doubles run.
“Ben and I are really pleased with the doubles performances this tournament,” Scott added. “They are working together and making each other better on the court. You can tell they all believe they are going to produce special tennis out there. Matches are two out of three sets with a ten-point tiebreaker for the third set now and physically we are in great shape. We’re looking forward to some great tennis tomorrow.”
Full results can be found at the link below:
http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=163113#&&s=8Results3