U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The No. 41 University of New Mexico men’s tennis team clinched the Mountain West Conference regular season title with a 4-0 victory over the Air Force Falcons on Saturday afternoon at the Academy Indoor Tennis Courts.
This is the Lobos’ first regular season title since 2008. Coach Bart Scott has a lot to be proud of with this accomplishment as this is only his first year serving as head coach of the UNM men’s tennis team.
The Lobos finish the regular season with a 19-9 overall record and an impressive 6-1 conference record.
The Lobos claimed the doubles point after tallying wins in the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen teamed up for their seventh consecutive doubles win defeating Grant Taylor and Lucas Fumagalli 6-4 in the No. 1 spot. Mitchell McDaniels and Samir Iftikhar clinched the point with their 6-3 victory over Dillon Launius and Max Olson in the No. 3 position.
James Hignett and Augustus Ge were down 3-4 in their match against Nico Carpenter and Andrew Parks when the point was claimed.
UNM went into singles action full force ahead and claimed three straight singles wins. Sabatka was the first off the court as he handily defeated Taylor in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. McDaniels put the score at 3-0 with his 6-3, 6-2 win over Olson.
Iftikhar clinched the win with his 6-4, 7-5 victory over Fumagalli in the No. 2 position.
Next up on UNM’s schedule is the 2015 Mountain West Championships, which the Lobos are hosting on their home turf next week (April 23-26) at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
The Lobos’ impressive regular season stretch allowed them to earn the top-seed in the tournament. UNM will face eighth-seeded Air Force in a rematch in round one of the tournament at 6 p.m. MT at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
For information and updates throughout the MW Championships follow along on the UNM men’s tennis social media accounts:
Twitter: @UNMMenTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/UNM.Men.Tennis
COMPLETE RESULTS:
Doubles:
1) Sabatka/Van Leijsen (UNM) def. Taylor/Fumagalli (AFA), 6-4
2) Hignett/Ge (UNM) & Carpenter/Parks (AFA), 3-4 unfinished
3) McDaniels/Iftikhar (UNM) def. Launius/Olson (AFA), 6-3
Order of Finish: (1, 3)
Singles:
1) Hayden Sabatka (UNM) def. Grant Taylor (AFA), 6-3, 6-3
2) Samir Iftikhar (UNM) def. Lucas Fumagalli (AFA), 6-4, 7-5
3) Mitchell McDaniels (UNM) def. Max Olson (AFA), 6-3, 6-2
4) Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) & Andrew Parks (AFA) – 6-4, 6-6, unfinished
5) James Hignett (UNM) & Nico Carpenter (AFA) – 4-2, unfinished
6) Rodolfo Jauregui (UNM) & Mark Kite (AFA) – 5-0, unfinished
Order of Finish: (1, 3, 2)