MW Play Opens for UNM at McKinnon, hosting Air Force

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Lobos might have back-to-back Mountain West titles, and the New Mexico Lobos might have won 14 of its last 15 Mountain West games, but come Saturday, none of it matters.  What matters is the Lobos will take on a game and talented Air Force team in its 2022 Mountain West opener.  The match starts at 4 p.m. at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.

The Lobos enter Saturday’s match at 6-9 overall while Air Force is 12-6 overall and 0-1 in the Mountain West.  UNM is coming off a tough weekend in which it lost 4-3 at Rice and 4-2 to No. 73 East Tennessee State.  UNM did get a great week from Aram Noroozian, who became the third Lobo this season to win MW Freshman of the Week honors, joining teammates Arda Azkara and Georgio Samaha.  Air Force enters the match after a 6-1 win over Oral Roberts.  The Falcons have played a Mountain West match already, falling 4-1 to San Diego State on the road in California.

Air Force has been led by Robert Baylon, who is 12-2 at No. 1 singles for the Falcons.  Both Jonathan Mascagni and Arjun Kersten are tied with Baylon with 12 wins in the spring.  Overall Air Force is 61-34 in spring singles and 26-20 in spring doubles.  The Lobos are 32-38 in singles in the spring and 55-59 overall while in doubles UNM is 19-15 in the spring and 25-24 overall.

The match will be the first men’s home match to be livestreamed with UNM’s new video streaming system.  Fans that cannot make it to the match in person can watch via www.golobos.com/watchtennis.