Big Weekend On Tap for Men's Tennis
Schedule
Friday, April 12 vs. UNLV – 4 pm (Free entry prior to 5 p.m.)
Sunday, April 14 vs. San Diego State – 1 pm ($5 entry or free with donation to ALS fundraiser tailgate)Season Statistics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s a big week for the Lobo men’s tennis team. Just don’t tell them that.
UNM’s men’s tennis team has been rolling. After opening on a 1-5 start to the season, the Lobos have been cruising, winning eight of their last nine matches, including four in a row in conference play. That has put the Lobos in first place in the Mountain West at 4-0, one game up on both Utah State and Fresno State, two teams that are both 3-1, with the one loss being to New Mexico.
Suddenly, the Lobos are looking at the potential of their first regular season Mountain West title in men’s tennis since the 2015 season. But to get there, the team will have to win at least two of the last three conference matches, and that starts on Friday with UNLV.
The Rebels enter the weekend with a gaudy 13-5 overall record, and they are 2-2 in the league. UNLV is coming off a 4-3 loss to Fresno State, a match that UNLV led 3-2. That one dropped UNLV to 12-2 at home, and the match Friday will be just the fifth road match of the year for the Rebels.
Sunday brings San Diego State to town for a 1 p.m. match that will serve as senior day for Ricky Hernandez Tong, UNM’s lone senior on the squad. The Aztecs, like the Rebels, are 2-2 in the league, and they are 11-8 overall. And if you think UNLV are homebodies, the match on Sunday will be just the fourth roadie of the season for SDSU, which is at Air Force on Friday. Due to Lobo Baseball at noon, there will be a $5 charge for the match. However, fans can visit the Loren Dils ALS Fundraiser Tailgate prior to the match and with a small donation, they will receive a ticket to the match.
Hernandez Tong enters his final home weekend with league honors as the reigning Mountain West Player of the Week. He went 4-0 last week, clinching both doubles points for UNM in a 4-3 win over Boise State and a 4-1 win at Utah State, and then he won 24 of 28 games in winning his two singles matches.
While Hernandez Tong is pretty hot on the court, all of the Lobos are firing on all cylinders. Dominic West has won eight of his last nine, and Stepan Holis, Tim Buttner, Facundo Bermejo and Nicolas Prieto have all won important matches over the last two weeks. It was Prieto who clinched a 4-3 victory with a bizarre comeback win that saw his match delayed by rain at 4-4, 40-30 in the third set. That match was ultimately won in a tiebreaker 7-5 after a change in venue, all the players hustling into vans like little kids heading out to a weekend tournament. The only thing missing was coaches Ben Dunbar and Robin Goodman slicing up oranges and talking about Happy Meals afterwards.