Open Announce

First Place Lobos Head to Finale at Air Force

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team takes on the Air Force Falcons in the regular season finale on Saturday.  UNM, sitting in a tie for first place with UNLV but holding the tiebreaker, needs just a win for its 14 regular season conference title.  It will not be easy, not if Air Force has any say in the matter, and they most surely will.

UNM’s match on Saturday at the Air Force Academy will take place at 1 p.m.  UNM is 7-8 overall and 5-1 in the Mountain West and Air Force is 8-11 overall and 1-5 in the league.  However, these two programs know each other well, as this will be the 50th all-time meeting between the two. The meeting marks the third time in the last four trips to Colorado Springs that the Lobos are heading into the match with Air Force at the Academy with a conference title on the line.  In 2015, UNM won no problem with a 4-0 win.  In 2019, it was a different story.  UNM had already won the regular season title and needed a win for an unbeaten season and a stand-alone title.

Yet in that match, UNM needed a come-from-behind 4-3 win, trailing 3-2 before getting two late wins, including a win at No. 2 singles by Dominic West, who is slated to play in that slot again on Saturday.  For UNM, the team needs to stay the course and lean on what has gotten them to this point: extremely good doubles play and big wins at the top of the lineup.

In doubles, UNM has been led by West and Sergio Molina, who were ranked as high as No. 57 in the ITA Doubles rankings, and although they have dropped from the rankings, they also haven’t lost since that initial ranking.  The duo is 5-0 in league play, all at No. 1 doubles, and they are 11-2 overall for the season.  UNM’s doubles play has turned in a 10-3 record, going 10-1 in the five conference wins.  Raul Dobai and Jake Trondson are 4-1 in MW play at No. 2, and that combination of 1 and 2 doubles has generally spelled success.

In singles, it’s been the play of Dobai, who is a top candidate for Mountain West Player of the Year.  Dobai has been perfect at No. 1 singles, going 5-0 and leading 6-4, 4-3 in the lone match he didn’t finish.  Right behind him has been West at No. 2 singles.  West is a perfect 3-0, and like Dobai, was leading in a second set after winning the first set, meaning both could easily be 6-0.

It’s that upper lineup dominance that has allowed the rest of the team to, well, just play tennis.  Some matches it’s been senior Stepan Holis or senior Jake Trondson.  Rafael Abdulsalam, Sergio Molina and Nicolas Prieto have all turned in key wins during conference play, and all will need to be on point Saturday.  Prieto has played the past few matches at No. 3 doubles, teaming with Holis but prior to that the energetic Alex Maggs had stepped into the doubles slot, going 4-4 for the season and 1-1 in conference play.

The match marks the second straight week that UNM has to face a team on Senior Day.  UNM was able to handle Utah State 4-0, but in facing Air Force, UNM takes on a team that has been right there in most matches.  Air Force fell to Boise State, the lone team to beat UNM, 4-2, and Air Force nearly toppled the team UNM is tied for first place with in UNLV, losing 4-3 as four of the six singles matches went three sets.

With no conference tournament to fall back on, the Lobos are in the unique situation of advancing to the NCAA Tournament at Lake Nona in Florida May 17-28 with a win, or potentially having its season ending with a loss.  With that as the backdrop, the Lobos will have to bring it on every point in order to continue its season another month.

 

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