Lobos Nearly Shock Unbeaten Oregon, Lose 4-3
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Oregon Ducks men’s tennis team is unbeaten for a reason, as they are one of the top teams in the nation. On Thursday in Tempe, UNM pushed them to the brink, but a pair of three-setters went Oregon’s way as the Ducks nipped New Mexico 4-3 in a match played at Arizona State. The Ducks improved to a perfect 8-0 on the season, while UNM fell to 2-2.
In the end, the opening doubles point proved large as the two teams split the six singles matches. Oregon took the doubles point with a pair of wins, although UNM’s No. 2 doubles team of Dominic West and Sergio Molina picked up a 6-3 win.
In singles, UNM fell behind 2-0 when Jesper Klov-Nilsson defeated Sergio Molina 6-1, 6-3, but UNM was able to bounce back with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Jake Trondson got UNM on the board with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ryoma Matsushita. Trondson, normally a doubles specialist, is now 1-0 this year in singles, playing in his second match of the season.
Following that win, Rafael Abdulsalam picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Luke Vandecasteele and the match was tied at 2-apiece. UNM picked up a third straight point as Stepan Holis won at No. 3 singles 7-6, 7-5, and suddenly UNM had momentum and a chance to shock the Ducks.
It wasn’t meant to be.
Both Dominic West and Raul Dobai bounced back from opening set losses to tie their respective matches with Dobai winning 6-2 and West 6-4. However, Dobai’s opponent Emmanuel Coste break Dobai in the second game of the third set and raced away to a 6-0 win to make it 3-3.
That set up West and Joshua Charlton for all the marbles. Charlton opened on serve, and both players held through 3-2. With West serving, Charlton broke with a love-game, and suddenly had a stranglehold on the match. After holding for a 5-2 lead, West served trying to stay alive. He fell behind love-30 before battling back to 30-30 before Charlton got the final two points for the Oregon win.
The Lobos continue their swing through Arizona on Saturday with a 2 p.m. meeting at Arizona State. It will be UNM’s third match of the season against a Pac-12 opponent.
NOTES: West won his 50th career double match … Abdulsalam is a perfect 3-0 at No. 5 singles this season … Alex Maggs made his season debut, teaming with Stepan Holis at No. 3 doubles.
