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Lobos Pull Off Shocking Comeback to Stay Unbeaten

LUBBOCK, Texas — There aren’t any win probability calculators for college tennis, but rest assured that if there were, when UNM was down 3-2 to Abilene Christian and down 5-2 and 4-1 in the last two matches, it would have said maybe 1.0%.  However, you can’t run the clock out, and UNM took whatever slim percentage it had, and turned it on its head for a miraculous 4-3 win over Abilene Christian in a match that took over four hours.

The heroes that pulled UNM back from the precipice were Myu Kageyama and Yue Lin “Polly” Chen.  Down by a 3-2 score, theirs were the only two matches left, both in the third set under different circumstances.  Kageyama won her first set 7-5 before dropping the second 6-3 while Chen lost her first 6-4 and then went to a tiebreaker, winning that 7-2.  That looked to be it though as Chen, playing Maryjoe Crisologo at No. 2, fell behind 5-2 in the third while Kageyama, playing at No. 5 against Ileana Mocciola, fell behind 4-1.

“Our team showed a ton of resilience today,” said head coach Vicky Maes, who saw her team move to 3-0 on the season.  “We played really well in doubles, came up one point short, then got out there in singles and battled hard to get to the needed four. I’m proud of the girls for showing a lot of heart.

In a match that saw UNM down and nearly out, the win was one that can be a factor in any match down the line for the squad, knowing they are never out of it.  “There were many moments when I thought things weren’t going to go our way, but we kept hanging in there and eventually were able to sneak in those big wins at Nos. 2 and 5,” said Maes.  “Kudos to Myu and Polly for coming back in their third sets and securing the team win. They were gritty and I couldn’t be happier with our performance.”

UNM needed both matches because UNM lost an epic doubles point that hinged on No. 1 doubles after the teams split the first two doubles matches.  UNM head coach Vicky Maes went with Chen and Hsuan Huang at No. 1 against Mocciolo and Claire Fisher.  That match went to a tiebreaker at 6-6.  And then it seemed to never end.  The match was tied at 6-6, and it was tied nine more times all the way to 15-15 before Fisher and Mocciolo finally won the point for ACU 17-15.

Kagayama’s match was a little ahead of Chen’s, and she was able to pick up a huge break at 4-2 to get it back, and she again forced a tiebreaker as Chen was also forcing a break down 5-3 to push her match to 5-4.

In Kagayama’s tiebreak, she fell behind 5-4 and 6-5 to Mocciolo, giving Abilene Christian match point, but Kagayama staved it off, and then won two more to win the tiebreaker 8-6 and even the match at 3-all.

Chen tied it at 5-5, broke Crisologo again to take a lead, and then she served out the match for a 7-5 win, and a 4-3 Lobo victory.

UNM also picked up key singles wins from Hsiang-Wen “Albie” Huang at No. 6, winning 6-2, 7-5, and by Hsuan Huang at No. 4, winning 6-3, 6-3.

The match was played at Texas Tech’s home complex as UNM faces the host Red Raiders on Monday at 10 a.m.

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