ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team headed into day three on the USTA/ITA Regional Championships today. Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen are keeping the Lobos alive with their doubles play.
The no. 1 seeded duo defeated Butters and Mitchell of Boise State 8-3 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. They will play McGuiness and Little of University of Utah tomorrow.
“Bart and Hayden have played solid doubles all fall,” said head coach Bart Scott. “Tomorrow is another opportunity to go out and do what they do best. They enjoy playing together and they are playing well. It’s been a great tournament so far and I really want to see the Albuquerque tennis community out tomorrow at 10 a.m. to support these guys and all these fantastic players!”
In singles play, Sabatka suffered a tough loss in the round of 16 after he went a full three sets against Matt Cowley of University of Utah. He fell short in the first set, losing 6-2, but came back in the second and won 6-1. In the third set he came close, but lost 6-4.
In consolation play, Van Leijsen defeated his opponent from Northern Arizona University, but fell to his next opponent from New Mexico State.
Sean Baklini and Jorge Escutia, however, both advanced twice in consolation singles play and will still compete tomorrow.
The Lobos are still alive and will compete tomorrow. The tournament runs through Sunday.
For the updated singles draw, click here.
For the updated doubles draw, click here.
For the consolation singles draw, click here.
For consolation doubles, click here.
Men’s Tennis Match Scores:
Matt Cowley (UU) def. Hayden Sabatka (UNM) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
Hayden Sabatka/ Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) def. Butters/ Mitchell (BSU) 8-3
Consolation Matches:
Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) def. Schumann (NAU) 7-5, 6-2
Goldberg (NMSU) def. Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) 7-6, 6-3
Sean Baklini (UNM) def. Lopez (USU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Baklini (UNM) def. Benites (NMSU) 6-3, 6-3
Jorge Escutia (UNM) def. Ajanovic (NAU) 6-0, 6-1
Perez/Collins (AFA) def. Michael Tran/Sean Baklini (UNM) 8-4
Other Countable Matches:
Butters (BSU) def. Hernandez-Tong (UNM) 6-7 6-4 6-2
Swindells (USU) def. Ge (UNM) 6-1 6-4
Parks (AFA) def. Tran (UNM) 7-6 7-5
Hernandez-Tong/Ge (UNM) def. Collins/Perez (AFA) 8-5