General Information
Admission: $5 (all day pass)
Parking: Baseball East parking lot
Live Stream: Mountain West Network
Live Scoring: lobos.statbroadcast.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s and women’s tennis programs are set to host the 2015 Mountain West Tennis Championships taking place April 22-26 at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
Conference titles have been claimed, the brackets are set, national rankings are out, and now the Lobo men’s and women’s tennis team are ready to kick off the conference tournament on their home turf.
No. 39 New Mexico Men’s Tennis (19-9 regular season record, 6-1 MW)
The Lobo men’s tennis team is heading into the conference championships with the MW regular season title (UNM’s first since 2008), a national ranking of No. 39 (second highest in the conference), and the top seed of the tournament.
Head coach Bart Scott and assistant coach Ben Dunbar have been working hard with this team all year to put them in the position to win and right now this Lobo lineup is hungrier than ever. UNM has finished as runner-up in the conference championship the last three years and now Scott’s combination of veteran seniors and talented young players are ready to change that result.
The top half of UNM’s singles lineup is currently lead by senior Samir Iftikhar (ranked No. 98 nationally), sophomore Hayden Sabatka, and RS senior Mitchell McDaniels. The Lobos’ doubles play has also contributed greatly to UNM’s success this season. Lobo duo Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen, 12-2 on the season, have won their last seven doubles matches and recently picked up a career-high national doubles ranking of No. 51. UNM’s No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairs also had a successful doubles showing in regular season play. Senior James Hignett and freshman Augustus Ge posted a 10-4 record while Iftikhar and McDaniels tallied a 5-2 doubles record.
No. 1 seed UNM will open the tournament with a quarterfinal match against eighth-seeded Air Force on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT. The Lobos swept the Falcons just last Saturday 4-0 to earn the regular season title.
Utah State, who handed the Lobos’ their only conference loss, earned the No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament. San Diego State claimed the No. 3 seed. Fresno State claimed the No. 4 seed while three-time MW tournament defending champion Boise State earned the No. 5 seed. UNLV, Nevada, and Air Force account for the sixth, seventh, and eighth seeds.
Coach Scott and the Lobos are aware of the depth that the conference carries this season, but they are hoping the home crowd energy and their competitive mindset will prepare for them challenge.
Quarterfinal Match: No. 1 seed New Mexico vs No. 8 seed Air Force – Thursday, April 23, 2015 – 6 p.m. MT – McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium
TOURNAMENT BRACKET (Men)
MW Tournament Main Page (Men): http://www.themw.com/#!/page/championship_m-tennis.
UNM Men’s Tennis Social Media: Twitter: @UNMMenTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/UNM.Men.Tennis
No. 61 New Mexico Women’s Tennis (13-9 regular season record, 4-2 MW)
The UNM women’s tennis team is heading into the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. UNM wrapped up the season with a solid 4-2 MW record, but it was the Lobos’ challenging non-conference season that put them in the position to earn the second seed for this week’s conference championships.
Head coach Erica Jasper and associate head coach Kelcy McKenna have been preparing their Lobo lineup for this week all season long. The Lobos faced a total of nine nationally ranked teams this season including three top-25 teams in Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and South Carolina. UNM finished the regular season with a 13-9 overall record and a 4-5 record against nationally ranked opponents. Senior Natasha Smith and sophomore Emily Olivier have been the Lobos’ go-to number one singles players so far this season, however Jasper’s lineup has great depth and has seen success in all positions. Sophomore Dominique Dulski, who competes in the No. 4 spot for UNM, is going into the tournament with an impressive 14-6 dual match record.
UNM, last year’s conference tournament runner-up, will open the tournament with a quarterfinal match against the winner of the seventh-seeded Nevada and tenth-seeded Boise State match up taking place on Wednesday afternoon.
Reigning MW Champion Fresno State earned the top-seed. The Bulldogs posted a perfect 6-0 conference record during the regular season and currently hold the highest ITA ranking of all the conference teams coming in at No. 49. San Jose State claimed the No. 3 seed and sit just behind the Lobos in the ITA rankings at No. 62. San Diego State claimed the No. 4 seed. Wyoming, who went 5-0 in conference play, is the No. 5 seed. Utah State (2-3 MW) comes in at the No. 6 seed. Nevada (1-4 MW) picked up the No. 7 seed. Air Force (2-4 MW) earned the No. 8 seed. Colorado State (1-5 MW), Boise State (2-4 MW), and UNLV (1-4 MW) account for the ninth, tenth, and eleventh seeds.
“In terms of our team and our tennis, there’s no team I’d rather be on court with than ours,” Jasper said. “We have a team of fighters and a toughness that you cannot teach. We’ll have a couple days to regroup and work on a few things from the weekend and then we get to just go after it and compete, which is what this team does best.”
Quarterfinal Match: No. 2 seed New Mexico vs winner of Boise State/Nevada – Friday, April 24, 2015 – 6 p.m. MT – McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium
TOURNAMENT BRACKET (Women)
MW Tournament Main Page (Women):
http://www.themw.com/#!/page/championship_w-tennisUNM Women’s Tennis Social Media:
Twitter: @UNMWomensTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/UNM.Women.Tennis | Instagram: newmexicowtennis