ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The No. 45 University of New Mexico men’s tennis team posted back-to-back victories against Georgia State on Saturday at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium. An action-packed day of Lobo athletics created an exciting environment for the Lobos and gave them the momentum they needed to roll past the Panthers twice in one day.
“It was a really nice atmosphere for college tennis,” interim head coach Bart Scott said. “Having baseball and softball going on made for a great environment for our guys to play in and it was special to be a part of that.”
New Mexico 4, Georgia State 2
The Lobos started the day with a tough match up against a feisty Panther lineup.
UNM dropped the doubles point allowing GSU to take an early 1-0 lead. Sebastian Acuna and Andrei Andrukhou posted a quick 6-0 win over James Hignett and Augustus Ge in the No. 2 spot while Jannis Koeke and Felipe Jaworki defeated UNM’s Mitchell McDaniels and Jorge Escuita in the No. 3 spot.
Hayden Sabatka and Rodolfo Jauregui were up 6-5 in a close match with Zackery Kennedy and Sofiane Chevallier in the No. 1 spot when the point was clinched.
The Lobos came out ready to rebound in singles action. Sabatka got UNM on board with a swift 6-0, 6-4 win over Kennedy. McDaniels gave the Lobos a 2-1 edge with his 6-1, 6-2 win over Andrukhou in the No. 3 spot. Escutia followed with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win over Jaworski in the No. 6 position.
UNM’s No. 1 singles player Samir Iftikhar returned to action for the first time since breaking his wrist in January. He battled Koeke where he fell in a tight 7-6, 6-4 match allowing the Panthers to put the score at 3-2.
The remaining two matches were neck-and-neck, but Jauregui eventually powered past Acuna 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to claim the win for the Lobos. Hignett’s match with Chevallier was called off in the third set (6-7, 6-3, 3-4).
New Mexico 4, Georgia State 3
The Lobos and the Panthers dove right into singles play for the second match of the doubleheader and GSU was certainly playing for revenge.
The Panthers claimed the first two points as Koeke defeated Iftikhar for the second time (6-1, 6-2) and Andrukhou defeated Jauregui 6-2, 6-3. Ge and Sabatka tied up the match with wins in the No. 2 and No. 6 spots. Sabatka defeated Kennedy 6-3, 7-6 and Ge defeated Jaworski 6-4, 6-4.
Escutia dropped a close 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 match to Chevallier in the No. 5 spot allowing GSU to take a 3-2 lead as McDaniels and Acuna battled in the No. 3 spot. The two opponents duked it out in a tiebreaker where McDaniels eventually claimed a huge 6-1, 7-6 win forcing doubles play.
The Lobos came out hot in doubles and gained early leads in the No. 1 and No. 2 courts and eventually tallied wins to claim the match for the Lobos. Jauregui and Escutia defeated Acuna and Andrukhou 6-1 in the No. 2 spot. Sabatka and Hignett clinched with a 6-2 win over Chevallier and Kennedy in the No. 1 spot.
Iftikhar and McDaniels were up 4-3 over Koeke and Jaworski in the No. 3 position when their match was called.
“We played okay, but have some areas to improve,” Scott said. “Our doubles in the first match was not great. We needed to fix a lot of things, but we came back in singles. In the second match, we threw a completely new lineup out there and the boys definitely responded and played with such a high energy. They got off to a hot start and got the job done. It was really nice to get two wins against a quality opponent and now our focus shifts to Penn.”
The Lobos play at home again on Tuesday, March 10 when they host Penn at 1 p.m. MT. The midday match will be played the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium. Admission is free.