LAKE NONA, Fla. — The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team battled No. 23 Texas Tech on Saturday. Following Texas Tech, the team played their second match against Arizona in the evening. After a schedule change and a three-hour delay due to rain that caused the matches to be postponed, the Lobos fell to both teams at the USTA National Tennis Complex 0-4 against the Red Raiders and 1-4 against the Wildcats.
During Saturday’s doubles play against Texas Tech, Bart Van Leijsen and Dominic West faced Alex Sendegeya and Bjorn Thomson. They were the first to finish the first doubles match, but were defeated by a score of 1-6. The duo of Jorge Escutia and Sean Baklini was the second team to finish but were once again defeated by Ronit Bisht and Pyry Hyrkkönen by a score of 2-6, giving the Red Raiders the win in doubles.
In singles play against Texas Tech, Van Leijsen came close to a third set when he faced Jolan Cailleau but fell short at the final point of the first set 6-7 and the last set 1-6. Ricky Hernandez-Tong faced Connor Curry but was defeated 3-6, 0-6 and Rodolfo Jauregui faced Sendegeya but was also defeated 4-6, 3-6. This gave Texas Tech the 4-0 win over New Mexico.
In doubles against Arizona the following evening, Hernandez-Tong and Jauregui put the Lobos on the board with the first point of the day after defeating Arizona’s Shoki Kasahara and Shoti Meparidze 6-0.
In singles play against Arizona, the Lobos fought another hard battle. Hernandez-Tong clinched another win for the team by defeating Trent Botha 6-1, 6-3. Escutia came close in to winning his second set but fell in the final set 5-7 against Alejandro Reguant. West did not finish his match against Kasahara, with a score of 0-6, 6-2, and 2-2, however, he did win his first set of the season. Van Leijsen went three sets against Meparidze 2-6, 6-4 but was defeated 4-6 in the final set, giving the Wildcats the 4-1 victory.
“It was a good day of learning for the guys. We had two competitive matches and they will only get better because of these matches,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “We have a lot to learn but the guys are excited to get on the courts again and get better. We fought hard and came out on the wrong end of a couple really close matches with Arizona. The boys gave it everything like they will all year. Credit to Tech and Arizona, and we will come back better tomorrow.”
The Lobos (0-2) play their third match this weekend against the University of Central Florida (UCF) today at 12 p.m. MT / 2 p.m. EST. The match can be viewed at playsight.com.
Lobos fall to No. 23 Texas Tech and Arizona
