Hernandez Tong Back-to-Back MW Player of the Week
COLORADO SPRING, Colo. — Fresh off two singles wins and helping UNM clinch a regular season title, Ricky Hernandez Tong was named the Mountain West Player of the Week for the second straight week. It marked the sixth time in his career that he has earned that honor, picking it up twice in 2017, twice in 2018 and now twice in 2019.
It’s the 35th time UNM has had a player named Mountain West Player of the Week, and he is the 16th different Lobo to earn the honor. His six Mountain West Player of the Week awards ties him for the most by a Lobo men’s tennis player with Johnny Parks, who also was named six times from 2005-09.
Parkes was the only other Lobo to earn back-to-back honors, winning the award on March 18 and March 25, 2009.
Hernandez Tong went 3-0 on the week, running his singles winning streak to five, winning 6-0, 6-0 over UNLV’s Eric Samuelsson and then 6-3, 6-2 over San Diego State’s Sander Andersen. Those two singles wins gave him 80 in his career, moving him into a tie for 11th on the all-time UNM singles wins list.
His lone doubles win gave UNM the doubles point against UNLV, and improved his record to 8-4 with teammate Stepan Holis.
UNM heads on the road for its final three regular season matches, looking to keep up its winning ways. After a 1-5 start, the Lobos have won 10 of their last 11, including seven in a row. UNM takes on Northern Colorado at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night, Air Force at noon on Saturday and then Denver at 1 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Live stats will be available for Saturday and Sunday’s matches.
UNM, which clinched the regular season title and the No. 1 seed at the upcoming Mountain West Tournament, is on its longest winning streak since the 2016 season when the Lobos won nine in a row.
UNM’s top three singles players have carried a heavy load, with Hernandez Tong and Dominic West winning 20 matches while playing flights one and two. Holis, playing No. 3 singles, is right behind with 19 wins.
The key for UNM has been the support play at flights 4, 5 and 6. Tim Buttner has solidified the No. 4 singles slot for UNM, Facundo Bermejo has gone 5-5 at the No. 5 singles slot, and Nicolas Prieto joined the lineup just prior to conference play and brings an 8-4 mark with him.
In doubles, no one is hotter than the tandem of West and Bermejo, who have won 10 straight doubles matches. That has helped UNM win the doubles point seven straight times, and nine of the last 10.