STOCKTON, Calif. – The No. 45 University of New Mexico men’s tennis team is heading home from the Mountain Pacific Invitational with a second place finish after falling to the San Francisco Dons 4-3 in the finals on Sunday afternoon at the Hal Nelson Tennis Courts.
The Lobos, who co-hosted the event with Pacific, earned their spot in the tournament championship match after posting back-to-back wins over Pacific and Cal Poly on Friday.
The Lobos took an early 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen defeated No. 25 nationally ranked doubles pair Bernardo Saraiva and Nils Skajaa 6-4 while James Hignett and Augustus Ge defeated Christian Brockstedt and Alex Santiago in a tiebreaker 7-6 (2).
USF’s Thomas Takemoto and Vasco Valverde posted a tight 7-5 win over Mitchell McDaniels and Jorge Escutia in the No. 3 position.
In singles play, the Dons came ready to fight back and eventually rallied to claim four of the six matches. Saraiva defeated Sabtaka 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 1 spot; James Tallman defeated Rodolfo Jauregui 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the No. 3 spot; Takemoto defeated Van Leijsen 6-7, 7-0, 6-4 in the No. 4 position; Valverde defeated Hignett 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 5 spot.
McDaniels and Escutia had a strong showing in singles action tallying wins over their USF opponents. McDaniels defeated Skajaa 7-5, 6-2 in the No. 2 spot. Escutia took down Johan Sammuelsson 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 6 spot.
UNM is now 8-7 on the season. The Lobos return home next weekend to host a doubleheader against Georgia State at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
FULL RESULTS
Doubles:
1) Hayden Sabatka/Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) def. Bernardo Saraiva/Nils Skajaa (USF), 6-4
2) James Hignett/Augustus Ge (UNM) def. Christian Brockstedt/Alex Santiago (USF), 7-6 (2)
3) Thomas Takemoto/Vasco Valverde (USF) def. Mitchell McDaniels/Jorge Escutia (UNM), 7-5
Singles:
1) Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Hayden Sabatka (UNM), 6-2, 6-3
2) Mitchell McDaniels (UNM) def. Nils Skajaa (USF), 7-5, 6-2
3) James Tallman (USF) def. Rodolfo Jauregui (UNM), 6-2, 7-6 (2)
4) Thomas Takemoto (USF) def. Bart Van Leijsen (UNM), 6-7, 6-0, 6-4
5) Vasco Valverde (USF) def. James Hignett (UNM), 6-4, 6-4
6) Jorge Escutia (UNM) def. Johan Sammuelsson (USF), 6-1, 6-3