ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A brutal schedule has left UNM’s men’s tennis team on a six-match losing streak, a streak that featured four close matches with four nationally ranked opponents and a fifth loss that went to the wire in a 4-3 decision. That stretch ended March 17, giving UNM a long two-week break between those matches and the start of Mountain West play. If you were UNM’s head coach, what would you do?
Some folks might enjoy the time off, but that is not how head coach Ben Dunbar wants to prepare for Mountain West play. Let’s add the nation’s No. 22-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders to the schedule. That’s who UNM hosts on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a match that will be played at the Estes Tennis Center. As the match will be played indoors, fans will not be permitted due to the current COVID health order in the state.
The Red Raiders will come to Albuquerque with a shiny 10-2 record and an eight-match winning streak. Included in that streak is a 7-0 win over Utah, a team that UNM lost 4-1 to back on Super Bowl Sunday. So why add a fifth nationally-ranked squad to an already loaded schedule with conference play a week away? Because it’s exactly that … conference play is a week away.
“For us it’s all about challenging ourselves and preparing for conference,” said Dunbar. “We’ve been really close against some of the top teams in the rankings, so we have the ability to compete, but these types of matches prepare us for the Mountain West, and that is the focus for us right now.”
Mountain West play will start on April 1 with an 11 a.m. match at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium against Fresno State as UNM looks to defend its 2019 regular season crown. The Lobos haven’t lost a conference match since a 4-1 loss to Utah State in 2018. The team didn’t play any conference matches in 2020 as the season was cut short by COVID before the Mountain West schedule began.
This year, each conference match has added importance because instead of playing for conference tournament seeding, each team is playing for the outright title and the NCAA Tournament berth that goes with it, as there will be no conference tournament in 2021. That means little room for error, and little wiggle room, which is why adding a team the caliber of Texas Tech makes a lot of sense for the Lobos.
“I’m looking for us to compete and use this opportunity to get better before next week,” said Dunbar.