New Mexico Brings Down UTSA and New Mexico State at Home Opener
BOX SCORE – UTSA
BOX SCORE – New Mexico State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It was a great day of opening home matches for The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team. New Mexico swept UTSA 5-0 and, their Rio Grande Rivals, New Mexico State 4-1 on Saturday at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex.
The Lobos (6-5) started off fast and strong by clinching the doubles point. Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Lawrence Perrin made quick work of their opponents Juri Reckow and Kai Breitbach of UTSA defeating them 6-1 at the No. 1. They were followed by teammates Dominic West and Rodolfo Jauregui after they defeated Takeru Watanabe and Axel Cronje of UTSA 6-2 at the No. 2, giving the Lobos the doubles win.
In singles play, Perrin defeated Cronje at the No. 4 position 6-1, 6-2 to give the Lobos a 2-0 lead. Hernandez-Tong took on Reckow at the No. 1 position and defeated him 6-2, 6-3 to get the team to 3-0. To end the match, West defeated Watanabe 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 3 while Jauregui provided the final 5-0 victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Breitbach at No. 2.
Following UTSA, the Lobos faced off against the New Mexico State Aggies in the afternoon.
Sean Baklini and Jorge Escutia put the first doubles point on the board for New Mexico at No. 3 after Hernandez-Tong and Perrin were defeated by Chris Goncalves and Luis Flores of New Mexico State at No. 1. It came down to West and Jauregui at No. 2 for the last victory in doubles, which they came through by defeating Stijn De Haan and Mauri Benitez of New Mexico State 6-3. This secured the Lobos win of the double point.
To start singles play, Hernandez-Tong swept Goncalves 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1, giving New Mexico another 2-0 lead. Enrique Asmar of New Mexico State came up and defeated Baklini 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 that would put the score to 2-1. Escutia brought the team back with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Benitez at No. 3, giving the team the 3-1 lead. Perrin managed to secure the final 6-4, 6-4 win over Espias at No. 5 that would give the Lobos their second win of the day and a continuing five streak match winnings.
“Two good wins today,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “The guys have worked hard and it’s fun to see some of the hard work pay off. We need to keep pushing now we have some momentum. Another good week of practice and then off to Stockton for some more competing next week! Go Lobos!”
The Lobos head back to California on Friday to compete at the Mountain Pacific Invitational hosted by the University of the Pacific in Stockton. More information on opponents and matches will be announced later this week.