Lobos Stay Hot, Post Third Straight Shutout, 4-0 over SDSU
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The best type of Senior Day is one where there isn’t much doubt. With that in mind, Senior Day for the men’s tennis team went just about perfect. UNM got a huge tiebreaker win in doubles and then rolled in singles for a third straight shutout, winning 4-0 over San Diego State. The win was UNM’s fourth in a row and put the Lobos in position to win a second straight Mountain West title.
UNM is now 6-8 overall and 4-0 in Mountain West play, one game up on Fresno State and UNLV, which are both 3-1. UNM, which owns the tiebreaker over both, can win the title by winning any two of its final three matches in any combination.
That whole scenario was set up by another perfect weekend, and a team clearly strengthened by a raucous crowd of nearly 400 strong and that was into every point, erupting on Lobo aces and following every match with fervor. The ringleader for UNM was senior Dominic West, who posted two wins on the day and capped off a 4-0 week for himself.
It wasn’t quite so easy at first as the double point needed a tiebreaker after West and Sergio Molina, ranked No. 59 nationally in doubles, took the final three games for a 6-3 win. That was answered at No. 3 doubles as San Diego State’s Rafael Gonzalez and Aaro Pollanen took a break on the opening game and held it all the way for a 6-4 win.
The left it to UNM’s tandem of Raul Dobai and senior Jake Trondson. Down 6-5, Trondson served three straight aces to move it to 6-6, and UNM ruled the tiebreaker. The key swing was at 2-1 on serve when UNM got a pair of mini-breaks, one on a double fault and one on a sweet reaction shot from Dobai to go up 4-1. From there the tandem waltzed to a 7-3 win and UNM led 1-0.
From there the drama left McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium, except for who would clinch the match as UNM took the opening set in five matches, the only tense one a 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker for Dobai, who was named Mountain West Player of the Week last week.
UNM’s first match to finish was Nicolas Prieto, again inserted into the lineup after doubles after Rafael Abdulsalam was ruled out with an injury. With Prieto sliding into the lineup, he took a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win for his second straight win on the week and a 2-0 lead.
West, after a frisky 6-4 win put the hammer down in his second set, getting two breaks for a 6-1 win to make it 3-0. From there is was which match would end first as Holis was up 6-3, 4-3 and Molina was battling towards a second set tiebreaker down 6-5 after winning his first set 6-3.
It turned out Dobai finished it off with a 7-6, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles, giving UNM a 4-0 win.
The other match to not finish was Jake Trondson, who dropped his opening set 6-3 and then bounced back with a 6-2 win of his own, but his No. 5 singles match never got going in the third set.
UNM now heads out for its final three matches, heading to Boise State and Utah State on Friday and Sunday respectively. UNM’s match with Boise State will start at noon, and the Utah State match at 11 a.m.
NOTES: West won his 57th doubles match, moving into a tie for 28th all-time at UNM, tying his former teammate and current assistant Ricky Hernandez Tong … UNM has won 13 consecutive Mountain West regular season matches, dating back to April 13, 2018 … West was honored as the first five-time letter winner in Lobo tennis history … West now has 114 combined wins at UNM
