ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team came up short on Friday afternoon in challenging conference match against the UNLV Rebels.
The Lobos (10-11, 3-2 MW) dropped to 3-2 in conference play after falling 4-2 to the Rebels (15-7, 3-2 MW).
In doubles play, the Lobos and the Rebels went head to head. Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Lawrence Perrin were swept by UNLV’s Jakob Amilon and Evaldo Neto 6-0 at the No. 1 spot. However, the other two doubles matches went into tiebreakers. Sean Baklini and Rodolfo Jauregui were soon defeated 7-6 (2) at the No. 3 spot by Richard Solberg and Alexandr Cozbinov of UNLV that gave the Rebels the doubles point advantage.
This left the No. 2 doubles match between Bart Van Leijsen and Dominic West against Adam Gage-Brown and Ruben Alberts of UNLV unfinished at 6-6.
New Mexico had to win four of the six singles matches to secure their fourth conference win. Van Leijsen was defeated by Amilon of UNLV at the No. 1 spot 6-1, 7-6, leaving the team trailing two points behind UNLV. The Lobos quickly responded with two singles wins after Jorge Escutia defeated Solberg 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 5 spot and West defeated Neto 6-3, 7-5 at the No. 3 spot. This tied the Lobos and the Rebels 2-2.
Perrin fell to UNLV’s Alberts 7-6, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot, putting the Rebels back on top 3-2. Courts 2 and 6 had the crowd on their feet when both matches went into three sets. In the end, Hernandez-Tong was defeated by Alexandr Cozbinov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot that secured the Rebels 4-2 victory over the Lobos and left the match between Jauregui and Charlie Croxford unfinished 2-6, 6-2, 5-4.
The Lobos will honor senior Rodolfo Jauregui on Senior Day and host San Diego State in their final home match of the season on Sunday, Apr. 16 at 1 p.m. MT at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium. The Loren Dils Fundraiser BBQ will also take place at McKinnon on Sunday starting at 11 a.m. MT.
There will be live stats broadcast to follow that can be found at lobostats.com on the day of the event. Fans can also follow the team on Facebook (UNM Men’s Tennis Team) and Twitter (@UNMMenTennis) for updates throughout the weekend.
Lobos Drop Match to UNLV, 4-2
