Lobos Handle UNLV 4-0, MW Title Within Reach
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– @UNMLoboMTennis defeat UNLV 4-0 and move to 5-0 in the Mountain West, with a chance to clinch the MW title Sunday on Senior Day at 1 p.m. vs. SDSU #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/oJxHAT2PI2
— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) April 13, 2019
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Head coach Ben Dunbar called it a professional victory. A raucous crowd at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium had other words for it. The Lobos took down UNLV on Friday, cruising to a 4-0 victory that wasn’t even that close, putting the Lobos one win away from its first regular season Mountain West title since 2015.
New Mexico won its sixth straight match, and its ninth in the last 10 outings, moving to 10-6 overall, and a perfect 5-0 in the Mountain West. UNLV dropped to 13-6 overall and 2-3 in the league. With UNM 5-0, they will enter Sunday’s match with a 1-game lead Utah State which is 4-1. UNM takes on San Diego State on Sunday at 1 p.m. and would clinch at least a share of the Mountain West title with a win, along with the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, hosted by Fresno State.
After a short weather delay that pushed the match back to a 4:25 p.m. start, UNM took the doubles point to go up 1-0. Dominic West and Facundo Bermejo won their ninth straight doubles match to get the first half of the point, and Tim Buttner and Nicolas Prieto both the second half with a love-game in the 10th, winning 6-4.
That left the No. 1 doubles match unfinished in a 6-6 tiebreaker. Perhaps the fact that Ricky Hernandez Tong, who was playing No. 1 doubles, didn’t get to finish his match propelled him in his singles match. Perhaps he was amped up for his final home weekend. Whatever the motivation, it worked because Hernandez Tong put on an absolute clinic.
Hernandez Tong was no match for Eric Samuelsson, who was playing just his fourth match at No. 1 singles. Ricky put on a complete clinic, running Samuelsson ragged. When it was over just 46 minutes after it started, Hernandez Tong won 6-0, 6-0, winning 48 points and dropping just 19. That cruise control win made it 2-0, and it was over shortly afterwards.
Stepan Holis made it 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles, and then Dominic West ended it just prior to the two-hour mark with a 6-2, 6-2 win. That clincher was extra special for West, with his family in attendance after a long journey from England to San Francisco to Albuquerque.
UNM won it 4-0 but had dominating leads on two other courts. Nicolas Prieto was up 6-4, 3-0, just three games from handing Tom Ciszewski just his second loss of the season at No. 6 singles against 11 wins. Tim Buttner had a 6-4, 3-2 lead at No. 4 singles and Facundo Bermejo lost his first set 7-5 but was up 3-0 in the second after a pair of breaks.
NOTES: The win was UNM’s first shutout win since a 4-0 win over New Mexico State on March 17 … Hernandez Tong and West each won their team-leading 19th singles matches … West’s doubles win was his team-best 12th doubles win.