SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — There were plenty of tiebreakers and plenty of third sets … and just about all of them went the way of the homestanding Utah Utes as UNM’s brutal road schedule continued with a 7-0 loss at the Eccles Tennis Center.
UNM dropped to 3-5 with the loss, with all five losses coming on the road. UNM has played a daunting road schedule with four Power 5 teams, and UNM has played very well in those matches. UNM has lose 5-2 to Baylor, which is nationally ranked, 5-2 at TCU, 4-3 at Colorado, 4-0 at Denver in a match that could very well have ended 4-3, and now to Utah. The Utes are now 3-1 on the season, and UNM will not travel far for the next match as the Lobos face BYU in Provo.
On Friday, inside the warmth of the Eccles Tennis Center (because it wasn’t warm outside with snow and 24 degree weather), UNM was shutout, but this wasn’t a typical shutout … Utah had to work for it. Right off the bat, the ball bounced Utah’s way in a tiebreakers. The doubles point came down to No. 2 doubles after UNM’s top team of Danielle Quevedo and Ruth Copas lost 6-1, but Natasha Munday and Bronte Murgett won 6-1. That put everything squarely on Hsiang-Wen Huang and Yue Lin Chen. Albie and Polly as they are known respectively, were down 5-4, but Huang was able to hold serve, pushing the match to 5-5.
From there, UNM broke serve and had a chance, but Chen was broken right back, setting up a tiebreaker. That two was ridiculously close. It was tied at 1-1, then 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4. With Utah up 5-4, a Lobo passing shot that had room just clipped the net and deflected out for a critical Utah point. The Utes than put it away for a 7-4 tiebreaker and a 1-0 lead.
In singles, Utah took two matches in straight sets to go up 3-0. In both, Utah blitzed UNM in the opening sets. Copas, playing at No. 1 singles, lost her opener 6-1 and Quevedo lost 6-0. True to form, they didn’t go down without a fight. Copas eventually lost the second set in a battle more indicative of her style, falling 6-4. For Quevedo, she staved off a match point to force a tiebreaker, and then was down 6-4 in the tiebreaker. Facing two match points, she screamed a forehand winner to save one, but her passing shot was wide to save a second, and she lost 6-0, 7-6 (7-5).
That gave Utah a 3-0 lead, and the Utes clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles by Whitney Hekking over Natasha Munday. Munday battled hard knowing if she could force a third set, it would make four in the match as teammates Murgett, Huang and Chen were all in third sets.
Murgett’s third set ended in a 6-4 loss and that was followed by Huang, who saved two match points before falling 6-2 in the third. That left Chen’s match with Leah Heimuli. Heimuli took a 5-1 lead and then had three match points that Chen staved off, pushing the match to 5-3 and deuce, but Chen’s forehand return of a serve was in the net, and Utah had a 7-0 win.
UNM has now time to dwell with the BYU Cougars on tap. The Cougars are 2-1 on the season after a 4-2 win over Boise State earlier on Friday.
Lobos Battle Hard in 7-0 Loss at Utah
