LAKE NONA, Fla. — After some tough matches against No. 23 Texas Tech and Arizona yesterday, the University of New Mexico men’s tennis team finished their opening weekend on Sunday at the USTA National Complex. The Lobos battled the University of Central Florida (UCF) and were defeated 1-4.
The squad played their toughest all weekend but couldn’t clinch the final win.
The Lobos started off really well in doubles play. Dominic West and Bart Van Leijsen defeated Kory Lovett and Kalman Boyd of UCF 6-2, giving New Mexico the first win in doubles. Rodolfo Jauregui and Ricky Hernandez-Tong battled Mariano Porter and Harrison Richmond, but fell in a tiebreaker 6-7 (3). The team of Sean Baklini and Jorge Escutia fought hard and were also in a tiebreaker against Chris Barrus and Enrique Paya, but couldn’t pull out the doubles match win and were defeated 6-7(5).
In singles play, Hernandez-Tong defeated Boyd in the first match 6-4, 6-2, giving New Mexico the first win in singles over UCF. Van Leijsen fought hard to keep the Lobos in the contest but was defeated 3-6, 4-6 by Lovett. Jauregui brought a win in his first set against Richmond 6-4, but fell in the final two sets 0-6, 2-6. Baklini fought hard once again in the sets of the final match but was also defeated 2-6, 6-7 in a battle with Danny Kerznerman, giving UCF the 1-4 win of the match.
“Heading back to Albuquerque 0-3, but it was a heck of a weekend for tennis. We got better as the weekend went on and this team showed they’ve got game,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “We just have to harness it in the right way. The guys fought and we will work diligently these next two weeks before our next match to put right some of the wrongs.”
The Lobos (0-3) next match will be Los Angeles, California for the 2017 ITA National Indoor Championships. The team takes on No. 8 UCLA at 2 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. MT on Jan. 28 and either Lamar or Boise State the following day on Jan. 29.