ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The No. 44 University of New Mexico men’s tennis team took down the Fresno State Bulldogs 4-2 on Friday afternoon allowing the Lobos to tally their first Mountain West victory of the season.
“Solid team win today,” interim head coach Bart Scott said. “The guys did a great job getting leads and stretching them. Fresno regrouped and fought hard pushing us to the limit. I’ve seen those matches turn then go the other way so I’m really proud of the way the guys stepped up. The fans and my coaching staff also really came through today.”
The match started with some intense doubles action. Senior James Hignett and freshman Augustus Ge posted a 6-3 win over Nikolas Papic and Sai Kartik Nakireddi in the No. 2 spot to give the Lobos an early advantage, however the remaining matches were not decided quite as easily.
After being down 1-5, Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen rallied to put the score at 4-5 against Eric Komati and Adam Glynn in the No. 1 spot. Despite the Lobos’ valiant effort, the Fresno State duo eventually claimed the match 6-4 forcing the point to be decided in the No. 3 match up. Samir Iftikhar teamed up with Mitchell McDaniels to take on Youssef Hassan and Euan McIntosh in the No. 3 position for the Lobos. The match came down to a lengthy tiebreaker where Iftikhar and McDaniels eventually won 13-11 to clinch the point for UNM; 7-6 (11).
Hignett was the first off court in singles play as he picked up a fast 6-1, 6-0 win over Hassan in the No. 6 spot. Rodolfo Jauregui fell to Komati in the No. 5 spot 6-1, 6-1 allowing the Bulldogs to get on the board. Sabatka put the score at 3-1 with his 6-4, 6-4 win over Glynn in the No. 2 spot. Van Leijsen fell to McIntosh in a tight 7-5, 7-6 (4) match putting the score at 3-2.
Iftikhar and McDaniels were left on the court as the two conference opponents duked it out for the victory. Iftikhar, ranked No. 61 nationally, powered through in the No. 1 spot and went on to clinch the win for UNM with his 7-5, 7-5 win over Kartik Nakireddi.
McDaniels led 3-0 in the third set of his match against Papic in the No. 3 position when the match was claimed.
UNM is now 13-8 overall, 5-0 at home, and 1-0 in MW play.
“James (Hignett) was fantastic in singles giving us a boost,” Scott said. “Hayden (Sabatka) again didn’t play his best and won against a great young player. Great to see Sam (Iftikhar), after what he’s been through this year, step up and close it out. It was fitting our seniors stepped up so big today. We have to rest up and get ready for Nevada on their home courts Sunday.”
The Lobos do not have much time to rest as they have to hit the road to take on Nevada in another MW match up on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.