PROVO, Utah — New Mexico defeated the Cougars of BYU 4-3 on Friday evening after a six hour and 14 minute battle at BYU’s Indoor Tennis Courts. History repeated itself as the Lobos and the Cougars finished the match with the same final score from last season. However, it was in Provo this time.
In doubles play, Bart Van Leijsen and Dominic West were defeated by Keaton Cullimore and John Pearce of BYU 2-6 at No. 2 position. Soon after, Rodolfo Jauregui and Sean Baklini were defeated at the No. 3 position by Aidan Carrazedo and Sam Tullis of BYU 6-1. This gave BYU the doubles point advantage, leaving the match between Ricky Hernandez-Tong/Lawrence Perrin and Jacob Sullivan/Jeremy Bourgeois of BYU unfinished at the No. 1 position.
THe Lobos bounced back in singles play. Hernandez-Tong was defeated by Sullivan 6-3, 3-6, and 2-6 at the No. 2 position, giving BYU a 2-0 lead. West stepped up and defeated Matthew Pierce of BYU 7-5, 4-6, and 6-3 at the No. 4 position. Following West, Van Leijsen defeated Cullimore 7-5, 4-6, and 7-6 at the No. 1 position, tying the score 2-2. Next, Jauregui defeated Bourgeois 4-6, 7-6, and 7-6 at the No. 3 position that would give the Lobos the 3-2 lead. Then, Perrin was defeated by Pearce 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 5 position and tied up the score 3-3.
The final match and tie-breaker came down to Jorge Escutia and Tullis at the No. 6 position. Escutia won the first set 7-6 but lost the second set 6-4. Finally, Escutia defeated Tullis 7-6 in the third set that would give the Lobos their final win and a final score of 4-3.
“That was the most epic college tennis match I have ever been a part of,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “The fight from our Lobos was amazing. I want to give credit to BYU. They have a fun team and atmosphere for college tennis and they are well coached. That’s two years in a row that Jorge Escutia has clinched against them and once again he was the last one and came through under pressure. This one will be talked about for a good few years to come. On to Nebraska tomorrow and the guys are ready to fight very hard once again.”
The Lobos improve to 2-5 while the Cougars drop to 6-5 this season. The team heads to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City today to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 2 p.m. MT. Follow UNM Men’s Tennis on Facebook and @UNMMensTennis on Twitter for updates thoughout the day.