Lobos Fall to SMU in Dallas
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story was written after receiving an incorrect game file that mistakenly did not credit Murgett and Quevedo with singles wins.
DALLAS, Texas — UNM had a chance to capture some momentum in doubles, but a pair of set points slipped away that would have given UNM a 1-0 lead, and that proved costly as the SMU Mustangs raced to a 4-3 win.
The loss dropped UNM to 1-3 on the season, with two of the three losses coming by 4-3 scores, while SMU moved to a perfect 4-0 on the season. UNM now has a week off before heading back out on the road to take on Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton on February 21 and 22.
The doubles point loomed over everything as UNM was up in the two unfinished matches when the Mustangs clinched. In doubles, UNM took a win at No. 2 doubles as Sara Kuuttila-Webbert and Myu Kageyama defeated Claudia Bartolome and Nicole Petchey 6-3, but Hsaing-Wen “Albie” Huang and Yue-Lin “Polly” Chen lost at No. 3 doubles to Tiffany Hollebeck and Sarai Monarrez Yesaki 6-4.
That meant the opening point was going to come down to the battle between Bronte Murgett and Natasha Munday at No. 1 doubles against SMU’s Jackie Nylander and Isabella Tcherkes Zade. The set went to a tiebreaker, and UNM twice in the set had set points to clinch the doubles point, but the Lobo tandem couldn’t get over the hump. SMU took the set 8-6 in the tiebreaker, and that gave them a 1-0 lead, and it turned out to be a crucial point.
Nylander defeated Kuuttila-Webbert 6-2, 6-2 to make it 2-0 SMU, and Alisia Manolescu battled back from a tough first set, but ultimately fell 6-1, 7-5. In all, SMU took the opening sets in the first five singles matches, with only Huang posting a Lobo opening set win at 6-2. Down 3-0, Huang went to a tiebreaker and won her set 7-6, but SMU clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles by Bartolome over Munday.
With Murgett and Danielle Quevedo both forcing a third set, they went to a 10-point super set to decide their respective matches, and UNM came out on top both times. Murgett took a 10-8 win at No. 2 singles over Monarrez Yesaki and Quevedo continued her hot play with a 10-7 win in the third set over Petchey.
NOTES: Quevedo’s win was her third of the spring season … dating back to the fall season Huang has won four straight matches … Kuuttila-Webbert and Kageyama improved to 5-1 as a doubles team, and a perfect 4-0 in the spring.