Lobo Tennis Opens 2021 Season With Old Rivals

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There was a time, not all that long ago, the when the Lobos faced off with BYU and Utah, the Mountain West regular season or tournament titles were on the line in some shape or form.  That won’t be the case this time around, with those schools long gone to the West Coast Conference and the Pac-12, respectively, but that doesn’t make it any less of a fun matchup.

Especially when it’s the long awaited 2021 season opener.  The Lobos, who return its entire 2019-20 team and everyone but one player from the Mountain West Champions of the 2018-19 season, travel up the interstate to take on BYU on Friday and Utah on Sunday.  both matches will be available via streaming of each court, and with live stats.

For The Lobos, you could say it starts with Dominic West, but that would be a slight to everyone else ont he squad, all of whom have seemed to come up big when needed, whether it’s the steady presence of Stepan Holis who is the Hutch to West’s Starsky (it’s a 70s TV show but to the older fans reading this, it makes perfect sense), or Facundo Bermejo’s penchant for clinching matches with dramatic flair.

UNM’s freshmen class from last year are all back too as Rafael Abdulsalam and Sergio Molina both proved that they could battle and win matches with regularity at the Division I level.  Hard-hitting Raul Dobai is also back along with Alex Maggs and Nicolas Prieto, all of whom have won big matches for UNM.

West, Trondson and Holis are the three seniors, with West and Trondson utilizing their super senior seasons afforded to them after the COVID-19 premature end of the 2020 season.  Holis and all the rest will get a chance to potentially use a super senior season as well in the years to come, which makes roster management a “must-have-spreadsheet” proposition for head coach Ben Dunbar.  For this weekend however, his focus is squarely on the Cougars and the Utes.

“We can’t wait to get started with our 2021 campaign. We have a lot of regional rivalries and we jump straight into two,” said Dunbar. “I respect both Utah and BYU massively, but there’s something special about this group and I believe in them because they are showing me their commitment every day.”

After playing until March 7 of last year, the matches this week will make it nearly a a full 11 months since the last match, and Dunbar is grateful for the opportunity to represent all of New Mexico with his team on the courts.  “It’s exciting to be playing again and I would like to thank our Director of Athletics Eddie Nuñez and the governors office for working so hard to get us back on the court.  We are so so grateful.”

Lobos vs. BYU (Friday, 3 pm, BYU Indoor Courts)

The Cougars are 2-2, having lost two straight to Oregon after beating Grand Canyon and Weber State.  Last year, the Lobos took out BYU 4-3 as Facundo Bermejo clinched the win with a thriller at No. 5 singles 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 over Matheus Ferreira Leite.  UNM could very well throw out the exact same lineup that took that 4-3 win last year, but BYU has some new faces to the roster that moved folks down.

What is expected is another fun No. 1 singles match between West and BYU’s Sean Hill, who was nationally ranked last year and won 6-3, 6-0, giving West a focal point for his preparations for 2021.  Last year UNM won four singles matches after losing the doubles point to the Cougars.

Lobos vs. Utah (Super Bowl Sunday, noon, Eccles Tennis Center)

Utah is 4-2 on the year and it hosts SMU on Saturday.  Utah has won two straight, defeating Idaho State 5-2 twice on the same day.  Like the BYU match last year, it was UNM that came out with a 4-3 win, with UNM clinching at 4-2.  That clinch was provided by West, who dropped his first set 6-2 and then rolled to a pair of 6-2 wins in the final two.  West defeated Franco Capaldo in the third with a break at 2-2 and then again at 4-2 to win the final four games.  Capalbo has been playing No. 2 singles for Utah, so that rematch may not happen.