Lobos Pick Up 5-2 Win Over UT Arlington in Opener
ALUBUQUERQUE, N.M. –— New Mexico raced out and clinched a victory before UT Arlington got on the board as UNM swept the doubles point and Arda Azkara clinched the win giving UNM an insurmountable 4-0 lead as UNM took the opener of the Jack Kennedy Classic 5-2. The Mavericks and Gonzalga Bulldogs play Saturday at noon before UNM hosts Gonzaga in the final match of the Classic on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Despite playing indoors due to temperatures in the 40s and a brief snow flurry outside, UNM was hot early. The Lobos rode their top doubles team of Jan Pucalka and Alex Maggs to the doubles point as their 6-4 win at No. 1 over Santiago Giamichelle and Anton Shepp gave UNM a 1-0 lead. Rafael Abdulsalam and Georgio Samaha combined at No. 3 doubles for a 6-2 win to get UNM halfway to the opening point, beating Daichi Akiyoshi and Joan Torres Espinosa.
From there UNM went to singles, and never wavered. The Lobos bolted out with opening set wins at No. 5 by Samaha and No. 6 by Maggs, putting UNM into a comfortable position early. The other four opening sets were split two and two, with Azkara winning at No. 1 7-5 and Oregon transfer Ryoma Matsushita winning 6-4 at No. 4.
Given the four sets to two lead in the opening stanza, UNM just had to finish it out, and they did, clinching the win by taking the first three singles finals. Samaha, who was tied for the lead in singles wins entering the match, now has that title to himself as he won 6-2, 6-3 over Espinosa. Maggs quickly followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 6 over Lachlan Robertson, and UNM had a nearly insurmountable 3-0 lead.
The big question was would it by Azkara or Matsushita with the clincher, and Azkara handled business at No. 1 with a fun 7-5, 6-4 win over Stepp in a match that was entertaining not just for the big shots by each player, but by their interplay with each other. Both Azkara and Shepp took turns hitting blistering winners and acknowledging each other with taps of their racquets and nods of their heads.
With UNM having the match, the final three singles matches were played out. Matsushita picked up his first dual win at 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles to make it 5-0 before the Mavs got on the board. Giamichelle nipped Aram Noroozian 7-5, 7-5 at No. 3 singles and Solano Caffarena nipped Rafael Abdulsalam 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) in a match where Abdulsalam fell behind early and then basically matched Caffarena over the final 16 games.
NOTES: Samaha’s win was his second career win at No. 5 singles, and he is now 14-4 in his career in dual matches … UNM’s lineup was similar to last year’s singles lineup, with Matsushita at No. 4 the only major difference (Samaha and Maggs were in different slots from last year) … Maggs and Pucalka picked up their eighth doubles win of the season.