Lobos Face Key Road Test at Boise State, Utah State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The road to a second straight championship will certainly be decided on the road for New Mexico men’s tennis. The Lobos, sitting in first place at 4-0 in the league, need two wins in their final three games to clinch a second straight Mountain West title and clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament. That road starts Friday afternoon at noon as the Lobos take on an old nemesis in Boise State. The match will take place at the Appleton Tennis Center.
UNM is hoping for the same result as its last trip to Boise, a 4-3 win, although UNM would prefer for the exact circumstances to not repeat. Two years ago UNM and Boise State waged an epic battle that needed two sites due to a late rain storm that hit with the match tied 3-3 and the final match at 4-4 in the final set. That match was won by Nicolas Prieto after trailing 3-0 in the third set, winning in a tiebreaker 7-5.
Prieto has come up big for UNM in the last week, twice getting inserted into the lineup due to an injury to Rafael Adbulsalam. Prieto, who had played just one official match in well over a year, won both matches, helping UNM to sweeps of UNLV and San Diego State, both 4-0. UNM also got a huge boost from reigning Mountain West Player of the Week Dominic West, who went 4-0 last week. West followed Raul Dobai, who was the Mountain West Player of the Week the week prior.
Boise State leads the all-time series 22-10, and while UNM does lead the series with Utah State, it’s extremely close at 4-3. The Broncos are 14-3 overall and 2-2 in the league, while Utah State is 11-6 and 2-2. Those records shouldn’t surprise UNM fans because it seems like every match has been against a team with a winning record. It’s actually pretty close. Of UNM’s 16 opponents, including Boise State and Utah State, 11 of them not only have winning records but they all have double-digit wins. For the season, UNM’s opponent record is a ridiculous 184-114 (.617) that only is that low because the Mountain West and Pac-12 teams keep playing each other. The non-conference marks for UNM’s opponents are 142-78, a winning percentage of .646, and along with five nationally -ranked foes, UNM has played teams that are currently leading the Summit League, the WAC and the Big West.