Lobos Nipped by BYU 4-3
Box Score | 2019-20 Season Statistics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As Yogi Berra would say, it was deja vu all over again. New Mexico and BYU went toe-to-toe, but a tiebreaker at No. 6 singles went the way of BYU by an 8-6 score, and that turned out to be the difference in a closely contested 4-3 loss. The match dropped UNM to 3-6 on the year as the team heads to Denver for a match with the Pioneers on Saturday at 11 a.m. while BYU improved to 7-3 on the season.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose close matches like this,” said head coach Vicky Maes. “But I like the growth I see in our team. They are playing tough and, when it comes down to only one point, you you are right there at that level. I believe in our group and we are going to keep fighting to turn these close matches our way.”
The match was the home opener for UNM, and it was tight throughout. The Lobos lost the doubles point by a slim margin. The Lobos picked up the first half of the doubles point needed when Hsiang-Wen “Albie” Huang and Danielle Quevedo took down Anastasia Abramyan and Helen Jiao 6-3. However, within 15 seconds of that match, the doubles point ended as BYU won at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, winning 6-3 at No. 2 and 6-4 at No. 1 doubles. That made it 1-0 BYU.
UNM’s head coach Vicky Maes made a lineup change at the top of the order, flipping Bronte Murgett up to No. 1 singles for the first time this season, and moving Sara Kuuttila-Webbert down to No. 2, and that move worked well. Murgett picked up a point for UNM with a resounding 6-4, 6-0 win over Kate Cusick Truman.
BYU took a 3-1 lead with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 5 by Emilee Astle over Myu Kageyama and a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 3 by Leah Heimuli over Natasha Munday. That left BYU just one win away, but UNM, which lost opening sets at No. 6 and No. 2, bounced back and forced third sets. The big bounce back was at No. 6 singles, where Danielle Quevedo lost 6-0 in her opening set, and then bounced back and won 6-0 in her second set, forcing a third. With Kuuttila-Webbert pulling away at No. 2 singles and Huang doing the same at No. 4, the match looked to be decided at No. 6.
Quevedo found herself down 4-1 in the third set, but she broke her opponent Jiao to make it 4-2, and then held to get it on serve at 4-3. Quevedo then dropped serve again but broke again to make it 5-4, and the UNM’s junior pushed it to 6-5. Down 30-40, she served an ace to make it deuce and match point, but her first volley after her serve was just long, forcing a tiebreaker. During that tiebreaker, Kuttiila-Webbert clinched her win to make it 3-2 BYU as she won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Huang also went up 5-3 in her match.
Quevedo fell behind in the tiebreaker 4-2, and faced two match points as she trailed 6-4, but a forehard winner made it 6-5, and then she forced Jaio to err long, and that evened it up at 6-6. However, Jiao took the next two points, just before Huang finished off her win, making it 4-3 BYU.
NOTES: Huang won her eighth straight singles match, and today was her first in that streak at No. 4 singles … Murgett picked up her third straight singles win … UNM is now 1-4 in 4-3 matches.