The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team (4-2) earned it’s third consecutive win after two days of play in Des Moines, Iowa against the Bulldogs of Drake University (3-4) with a final score of 4-3.
The day started off with a loss by Lobos Bart Van Leijsen and Jorge Escutia in the first flight doubles against Drake’s Vinny Gillespie and Barny Thorold by a score of 6-4. Fortunately, this was followed by back-to-back wins by third flight Stepan Holis and Sean Baklini against Finley Hall and Tom Hands by a score of 6-3, and second flight Dominic West and Ricky Hernandez-Tong against Ben Clark and Ben Wood by a score of 7-5 to earn the doubles point for the Lobos.
In singles play, the teams went back and forth between wins with first flight Van Leijsen falling to Gillespie, 6-3, 6-4, and Holis responding with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win against Wood in the fifth flight. Fourth flight Escutia then fell to Clark, 6-2, 6-4, but Baklini was able to pick up a win against Freddie Powell in the sixth flight. Unfortunately, West was unable to get a win against Drake’s Thorold, and the match was tied with only second flight Hernandez-Tong left to play against Hands.
After falling 3-6 in the first set and winning the second 6-4, Hernandez was down 0-4 in the match-deciding set; however, Hernandez-Tong was able to come back from behind and get the victory for the Lobos, winning the set 6-4.
“I’m so proud of the guys for this weekend,” Head Coach Ben Dunbar said. “All eight guys had a hand in our success this weekend and that’s something special. Credit to Drake, they fought hard and the match was at a very high level. Ricky fought back from some adversity and hung tough. We are ready to go home and have a good week before going back on the road next weekend.”
The Lobos will play next on Friday, January 9 against Pacific at 1 p.m. in Stockton, California, and then again on Sunday, January 11 against Santa Clara at 11 a.m. in Santa Clara, California.