ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Lobos will look to improve their seeding at the Mountain West Tournament this weekend with a tough road trip, facing UNLV and San Diego State in a pair of neutral site pod matches in Colorado Springs, Colorado, hosted by Air Force. The Lobos face off with UNLV on Friday at 2 pm and San Diego State Saturday at 2 pm.
Both matches are the final ones of the 2022 regular season, a season that has seen UNM go 11-9 to this point, and 2-6 in the Mountain West.
Right now, UNM is sitting in ninth place and would face off with No. 8 Nevada in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament, played Wednesday through Saturday, April 27-30 at El Conquistador Tucson in Tucson, Arizona. The Lobos are coming off their best match this season, despite it being a loss. The Lobos battled straight up with No. 65 Fresno State, taking the doubles point and having a puncher’s chance in singles, nearly taking three opening sets. That came on the heels of a solid 4-1 win over San José State.
The Lobos got a huge lift from an unlikely source over the weekend as Sofia Taborga, a freshman, jumped into the lineup and won both of her doubles matches, teaming with Satoho Toriumi. Against San José State, Taborga and Toriumi won 6-1 for the first half of the doubles point. Against No. 65 Fresno State, they fought off four set points and ended up clinching the doubles point with a 7-6 (7-4) win.
Now UNM faces two of the top programs in the Mountain West. UNLV is currently 14-5 on the season and 5-3 in the league, sitting in fourth place. San Diego State is 15-5 overall and 7-1 in the league, one game behind Fresno State and sitting in second place.