BOX SCORE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. — After battling both Cal Poly and the Central California Coast weather, the University of New Mexico men’s tennis squad was defeated 4-3 in a close match at the Mustang Tennis Complex on Sunday.
The Lobos and the Mustangs began doubles play at the Avila Bay Athletic Club due to rain at the Mustang Courts.
To begin doubles play, the team of Rodolfo Jauregui and Sean Baklini defeated Karl Enander and Antoine Noel of Cal Poly on court three 6-4. Ricky Hernandez-Tong and freshman Lawrence Perrin faced No. 28 Ben Donovan and Corey Pang of Cal Poly on court one but was left unfinished. Dominic West and Bart Van Leijsen defeated Tim Tan and Garrett Auproux of Cal Poly on court two 7-6 (6), giving the Lobos the doubles point victory over the Mustangs on Saturday afternoon.
Singles play started after but came to a halt due to more rain on the courts.
The teams picked up singles play on Sunday morning at the Mustang Courts. Hernandez-Tong secured the first win for the team and defeated Auproux 6-2, 7-6 on court three. Following Hernandez-Tong, Jorge Escutia defeated Noel 6-3, 6-4 on court five, gaining the second singles win for the team and the 3-2 advantage over the Mustangs.
However, Van Leijsen, Baklini, and Jauregui were defeated by Pang, Axel Damiens, and No. 72 Donovan of Cal Poly on courts one, six and two.
On court four, West battled Joshua Ortlip for the last point that would secure the team’s victory but fell to Ortlip by a final score of 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. This gave the Mustangs the 4-3 victory.
Since the match against Cal Poly carried into Sunday, the team decided to postpone their scheduled match against Loyola Marymount for later date.
“We need to get back to Albuquerque and have a great 2 days of practice before Utah,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “The guys fought hard but we didn’t have a great week of practice last week and we have to be more conscious of crafting our games in the weeks leading up to matches. The fight was there but, in the big moments, we have to give credit to Cal Poly for playing some clutch tennis when it mattered. We are looking forward to playing more tennis next weekend.”
The Lobos (1-5) head to Provo, Utah on Friday Feb. 17 where they will take on BYU at 4 p.m. MT. The following day, they will travel to Salt Lake City to face Nebraska on Saturday Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. MT and will wrap their last match of the weekend against Utah on Sunday Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. MT.
Lobos Drop Close Match to Cal Poly
