Lobos Fall to Aggies Late 4-3
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — New Mexico had a 3-2 lead but couldn’t close out a third set victory in either of the final two matches as UNM dropped its season opener at New Mexico State 4-3. It marked the first win by NMSU over New Mexico since 2012, and just the seventh 44 overall meetings between the two programs.
“This wasn’t the way we wanted to start our season, but kudos to NMSU,” said head coach Vicky Maes. “The played the big points better and we held back too much when it mattered most.”
Maes added, “We competed hard but we can’t count on our opponents to fold every time we have a little bit of a lead. We have to keep our foot on the gas and close out matches.”
UNM easily took the doubles point, getting a pair of 6-1 wins. Newcomers Sara Kkuuttila-Webbert and Myu Kagayama easily disposed of Chloe Gavino and Bella Nguyen at No. 2 doubles while Danielle Quevedo and Hsaing-Wen “Albie” Huang did likewise to Neus Torregrosa and Lucija Josipovic at No. 3. That left UNM’s top doubles pairing leading but unfinished as Bronte Murgett and Natasha Munday were up 5-3 at No. 1 over Harsha Challa and Gavi Kalaga.
That gave UNM a 1-0 lead heading into singles, but the Lobos only got wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, falling in the top four flights. UNM made it 2-0 quickly as Huang had no problem with Kaela Di Guilio winning 6-2, 6-2. UNM had its chances in the next two matches to finish, but both went NMSU’s way.
At No. 4 singles, Munday had a 3-2 lead in the first set but was broken twice by Kalaga, losing the opening set 6-3. In the second set Munday built a 4-1 lead, but again couldn’t close it out, losing in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5). That made it 2-1 UNM, and NMSU tied it with a win at No. 3 singles. Freshman Alisia Manolescu was up 4-3 in the opening set but dropped the final three games to Gavino, giving NMSU the opening set. Gavino then battled back from down 5-4 in the second set for a 7-5 tiebreaker win, making it 2-2.
UNM went back up as Danielle Quevedo rebounding from a first set loss to defeat Nguyen 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, and UNM needed just one more set at either No. 1 or No. 2, both of which went to deciding third sets. UNM didn’t get either.
Torregrosa for the Aggies snuck past Murgett at No. 2 singles 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, putting everything on newcomer Sara Kuuttila-Webbert at No. 1. Kuuttila-Webbert won her opening set 6-2 but dropped the final two, 7-6 and 6-3, and NMSU had a win.
The Aggies, who played the week previous, are now 1-2 while UNM falls to 0-1. The Lobos have no time for self-pity as the squad drives an hour south to take on UTEP on Super Bowl Sunday at noon. “We will take the lessons learned from today into our match tomorrow.”