ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The No. 70 University of New Mexico men’s tennis squad hosted Boise State, another conference opponent, to a close match, but fell 4-1 to the No. 69 ranked team.
In doubles play, No. 77 doubles team of Hayden Sabatka and Rodolfo Jauregui took on Boise State’s Toby Mitchell and Kyle Butters at the number one position. The two teams battled game for game, but the Lobos fell behind and fell 7-5.
Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Jorge Escutia put the Lobos back on the board when they defeated Leis Roskilly and Thomas Tenreiro 7-5 at the number two positon.
At the number three slot, Bart Van Leijsen and Michael Tran took Brian Foley and Abe Hewko to a tiebreaker for their match and for the doubles point. The Lobos started strong, but lost momentum and fell 7-3 in the tiebreaker, losing the doubles point.
In singles play, Hernandez-Tong and Sabatka both fell to their opponents at the number three and one positions respectively. Sabatka took each set to a tiebreaker, but fell short in each.
Van Leijsen was first to put the Lobos on the board when he dominated Thomas Tenreiro in two straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
Escutia competed at the number three position against Toby Mitchell and took him to a full three sets. Escutia fell 6-1 in the first set, but bounced back to win the second in a tiebreaker. In the third, he held Mitchell to four sets, but ultimately fell 6-4, allowing Boise State to clinch the match.
Ge and Tran were playing at the number five and six positions respectively when their matches were left unfinished. They both defeated their opponents 7-4 in a first set tiebreaker and they both fell 6-4 in the second. Ge was trailing one game and Tran was up three nil when their matches were called.
“Another high quality tennis match between two good MW teams,” said head coach Bart Scott. “The doubles point cost us a bit. It was similar to Friday night when we let too many opportunities go by without capitalizing. Again, credit to Boise State for coming in here and playing the big points better than us. The guys need to refocus their energy now on SDSU.”
The Lobos advance to 13-13 in the season and 1-3 in conference play. They look forward to Thursday as they head to California to continue Mountain West conference play and take on San Diego State. The Lobos will back at home Sunday April 10th when they host Tulsa.
Men’s Tennis Drops to Boise State
