ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Fall season for men’s tennis is about individual and doubles tournament play, getting better and potentially getting the pressure of a championship match. Last week, two Lobos got that experience. Now, head coach Ben Dunbar hopes the next tournament nets two titles.
The Lobos head to their second Fall tournament, making the short drive west to the Arizona Invitational, hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson at the Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club.
The field is deep with several solid teams from this side of the country. Along with Arizona, fellow Mountain West foes San Diego State and Boise State will be on hand, along with BYU, Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, Ottawa University and Mesa Community College is what should prove to be a solid test for UNM.
Dunbar will have two holdovers from last week’s Midland Invitational in Stepan Holis and Karlo Divkovic, along with Nicolas Prieto and Michael Tran. Last weekend, Holis dropped his opening match before going on a tear in the backdraw, winning three straight times to get to the backdraw championship, eventually losing a see-saw match 6-0, 0-6, 10-7 to Jon Sheehy of Abilene Christian.
In the main draw, Dominic West won four straight matches to get the main draw championship before falling 6-2, 6-3 to Isaac Arevalo of Utah State. West survived a tense three-set match in his Round of 32 opener before reeling off straight set wins in the Round of 16, the quarters and the semis to set up his title shot.
“I was really proud of the way our guys went in and played in singles last week,” said Dunbar, who watched his Lobos total 10 singles wins in 16 matches, with both Holis and West making championship matches. “This will be another good test for us, and I’m excited to see Nicolas and Michael in their first official Fall matches of the season, and to see what Stepan and Karlo can do to continue improving.”
Make sure to stay in touch and updated @UNMLoboMTennis for results.
The ITA Regionals are on tap for UNM after the Arizona Invitational
To support the Men’s tennis team this season please message Ben Dunbar at bdunbar@unm.edu and follow the link to join the UNM Lobo Baseline Club and donate to the UNM Men’s Tennis Team https://www.unmfund.org/fund/mtennis/
Men’s Tennis Heads to Arizona Invitational
