Santa Barbara, Calif. — After a tough battle against the Gauchos, The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team fell to UC Santa Barbara 3-4 on Friday afternoon.
The Lobos (6-8) started off doubles play strong. The doubles team of Sean Baklini and Jorge Escutia faced Cody Rakela and Kristian Prior of UCSB at No. 3, defeating them 6-1. Bart Van Leijsen and Dominic West faced off against Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and Anders Holm at No. 2, but were defeated 6-4.
This tied the Lobos and the Gauchos 1-1 for the doubles point.
Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Rodolfo Jauregui battled Morgan Mays and Simon Freund of UCSB at No. 1 for the final victory. The duo defeated Mays and Freund 7-6 (8), claiming the doubles point advantage for the Lobos.
In singles play, Jauregui fell to Freund 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3, West fell to Holm 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4, and Van Leijsen fell to Mays 7-6, 7-5 at No. 1. This gave the Gauchos the 3-1 advantage over the Lobos but Hernandez-Tong came back to give the team their first singles point after defeating Moreno de Alboran 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 at No. 2. Baklini also grasped another singles win after defeating Chase Masciorini of UCSB at No. 6 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, tying the Lobos and the Gauchos 3-3.
It came down to Escutia and Rakela for the deciding match point. Escutia fought a hard battle but fell to Rakela 4-6, 7-5, 3-6 at No. 5, giving the Gauchos the 4-3 win over the Lobos.
“Another great college tennis match,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “Sometimes they go our way and this one didn’t. We showed that we learned a lot last week and we need to continue to grow. This team has the ability to be really good, we just have to grow into our shoes.”
New Mexico will face the UC Irvine ‘Eaters tomorrow in Irvine, Calif. at 10 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. MT.
Be sure to like and follow the team on Facebook (UNM Men’s Tennis Team) and Twitter (@UNMMenTennis) for updates on tomorrow’s match.
Lobos Drop Match to UC Santa Barbara
