Men’s Tennis Opens Home Slate with BYU, No. Colo.
Live Stats | 2019-20 Season Statistics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team, after two weeks on the road traveling to the Eastern and Central time zones, is happy to be back at home, ready to open the home schedule. The team will do that this weekend, hosting former conference foe BYU on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Northern Colorado on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Saturday’s match will be played at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium (weather permitting) and will feature free coffee and donuts. Fans coming to the match do not have to pay to park but they will have to tell the parking attendant.
The Lobos enter this weekend’s matches at 0-4, but there’s more to it than just four straight losses to open the season. Head coach Ben Dunbar has seen his Lobos, a team that is integrating several new players, get better each match. It started with a loss to nationally-ranked Tennessee, but in each match afterwards, from Middle Tennessee State to losses to Louisville and Gonzaga, the strides have been there. UNM had opportunities in each of the last three matches, including a 4-1 loss to Louisville and a 4-2 loss to Gonzaga.
Now, UNM will take all those lessons learned on the road and try to turn it into a result this weekend. To do it, UNM will be attempting to get a win against a BYU team that owns a very deceiving 3-4 record. The Cougars have won their last two matches, and three of their four losses have come to nationally-ranked teams Harvard, Minnesota and UCLA. The Lobos lost at BYU last season 4-0.
On Sunday, the Lobos will take on the Northern Colorado Bears of the Big Sky Conference. The Bears are 2-4 and are coming off a 7-0 loss at Denver. UNC also has played a Mountain West team, losing to Air Force 5-2.
For UNM, there could be lineup changes as Dunbar continues to mix and match in order to get the right combinations on the court. In singles, Dominic West has played the No. 1 singles slot three times out of four, with Stepan Holis played No. 2 in those matches, and they flip-flopped once. Sergio Molina has played No. 3, Raul Dobai has played No. 4, but after that it’s been almost dealer’s choice as Dunbar has used the first four matches to gain some experience for his squad.
Rafael Abdulsalam, Facundo Bermejo, Alex Maggs and Nicolas Prieto have all takes turns playing in the Nos. 5 and 6 slots. This weekend figures to be a continuation of combinations as UNM looks for the right mix in the lineup. It’s something that’s common for UNM early in the season.
“The four matches we have played have really taught us a lot about the things we are doing really well and the area we need improvement,” said Dunbar. “We are excited to play at home and our guys are high on confidence after two weeks of very solid practice. We respect both teams coming in very highly and for those coming to watch, expect to see some high level tennis!”