Lobos Bounce Back with a Sweep of Utah State

LOGAN, Utah — After losing its first Mountain West match in 1,099 days, the Lobo men’s tennis team made sure that it got back to its winning ways with a convincing 4-0 sweep of Utah State, moving the Lobos to 5-1 in the Mountain West and within one win of a conference title and the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

The win was also a milestone victory for the program as it was the 1,000 win in school history.

The Lobos made quick work of the doubles point to jump out to a 1-0 lead.  UNM’s nationally-ranked duo of Dominic West and Sergio Molina picked up a 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles, and that was quickly followed by Raul Dobai and Jake Trondson’s 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles.

That moved the match to singles, and UNM put any doubts to rest early, taking the opening singles match in five of the six matches.  That set up the quick finish for the Lobos as Trondson won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 and Stepan Holis won by that identical line at No. 4.  All that was left was which other match would finish first, and it was Raul Dobai, who won his sixth straight match with a 6-4, 6-3 finish at No. 1 singles.  Dobai is now 5-0 in the conference in singles at No. 1, and the one match that wasn’t finished he was up big. West’s match ended with him up 6-2, 3-3.  Molina had won his first set but was down a break at 6-4, 1-4 in the second, and Rafael Abdulsalam was down 4-6, 1-2 at the clinch.

UNM now travels to Air Force in Colorado Springs on Saturday for a 1 p.m. match that with a win would give UNM the Mountain West title.  UNM’s 5-1 record is tied for first with UNLV, also 5-1, which beat Fresno State 4-3 on Sunday.  Fresno State and Boise State are tied for third one game back at 4-2.