Printable 2016-17 Men’s Tennis Schedule
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Say this for Ben Dunbar, New Mexico’s new head men’s tennis coach: he likes a challenge. Say this for his 2016-17 veteran team … they should be able to handle any challenge that comes their way. That’s Dunbar’s hope as his 2016-17 schedule features 12 nationally-ranked foes from a year ago among the 26 regular season matches.
In addition to those 26 matches, the team will get a solid Fall workout in with four tournaments, including the UNM Balloon Fiesta Invitational, Oct. 7-9.
Along with the 12 ranked opponents, three of UNM’s possible opponents in the Mountain Pacific Invitational were ranked at the end of last season as well, giving UNM a possibility of 15 ranked foes. All of those tough matches will come into play as strength of schedule is a major factor for at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a great schedule we have put together for this year. It’s going to give our team plenty of opportunities to play at a high level and win some big matches,” said Dunbar. “Our goal is to win the Mountain West and make the NCAA championships. This schedule gives us the non-conference opportunities we need to be battle tested when conference season rolls around. We have a veteran team that are ready for this type of challenge.”
UNM’s Fall season opens with the ITA All-American tournament in Tulsa Oklahoma in the opening week of October, followed almost immediately with the UNM Balloon Fiesta Invitational, which utilizes all of UNM’s courts, including the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
The other two tournaments in the Fall are the ITA Mountain Regional October 19-23 in Las Vegas, Nevada and the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships, Nov. 3-6 in New York City.
For UNM, which finished last year ranked No. 69, the Spring season opens with 11 matches away from home starting on January 14 with three matches in Lake Nona, Florida. Included in that tournament is the opener against No. 11 Texas Tech. UNM’s highest-ranked foe is its opening road opponent, UCLA, which finished last year ranked No. 2 in the country. That UCLA match is part of a small tournament with either No. 55 Boise State or No. 58 Lamar awaiting the next day.
Those two matches start a string of eight straight matches against nationally ranked foes (according to the ITA), ending with UNM’s conference opener, on the road at Utah State on February 20. In the interim they will face off with No. 67 Loyola Marymount, No. 62 Cal Poly, No.61 BYU, No. 72 Utah and No. 66 Nebraska.
The Lobos will renew the Rio Grande Rivalry in men’s tennis, hosting New Mexico State on Saturday, February 25 in the second match of two that day, UNM’s home opener. The Lobos will play UTSA on the morning of the 25th to open the six-match home schedule.
UNM’s other home matches include Northern Arizona on March 14, Fresno State on March 31, UNLV on April 14 and San Diego State on April 16.
The Lobos will once again participate in The Mountain Pacific Invitational, where the Lobos are one of four teams in the field to finish ranked in 2016 (joining Pacific, Cal Poly and Wichita State).
The 2016 Mountain West Championships will open April 27 in Boise, Idaho, with the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament May 5 and 7.