Lobos Shutout No. 74 Drake 7-0

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a match that seemed like it would go down to the wire, the Lobos took every singles match, five of which were three-set wins as New Mexico shutout No. 74 Drake in a match that was much closer than the final score would indicate.

The win pushed UNM to 8-3 on the year, and Drake dropped to 8-9 overall.  The Lobos now head east to face Radford on Saturday and East Tennessee State on Sunday.

The Lobos did something they haven’t done in a while, and that was win the doubles point.  Head coach Chris Russell mixed some things up and it worked as UNM won a pair of matches 6-2.  At No. 2 singles, Georgio Samaha moved up to team with Aram Noroozian for a 6-2 win to clinch the doubles point, just second before Alex Maggs and Arda Azkara could clinch it, as they were up 5-2 and 40-15.  Rafael Abdulsalam and new partner Ryoma Matsushita played together at No. 3, winning 6-2 for the first half of the point.

After taking that doubles point, it was Drake that bolted out in front, winning the opening set of five of the six singles matches.  On;y Matsushita at No. 4 was able to win his opening set, taking a 6-1 win over Olle Sonneson.  Everywhere else it was trouble, including four streaks that were suddenly in danger.  Arda Azkara, who is undefeated in his career at home at No. 1 fell 6-3 to Jeremy Schifris.  Aram Noroozian, playing at No. 3, lost his opening set 6-2 to Oliver Johansson and Georgio Samaha, playing at No. 5, lost his first set 6-4 to Reid Jarvis.  Noroozian and Samaha entered the match on eight-match winning streaks.

Alex Maggs also lost his opening set, falling 7-6 in a tiebreak (7-4), putting his perfect 5-0 spring in jeopardy.  However, the Lobos sextet dug deep and turned in a wild comeback.  As everyone battled in the second set, Matsushita was able to finally put away Sonneson.  Matsushita was up 4-1 in the second, was broken for 4-2, and then Sonneson held.  The two battled in a back-and-forth eighth game, with Matsushita serving out a duece point for a 5-3 lead, and he finished it off from there at 6-3.

As that was going on, all five Lobos won their second sets.  Rafael Abdulsalam, who lost his opening set 6-1 to Matija Matic, got a huge break in the final game for a 7-5 second set win.  Noroozian had a set point at deuce and up 6-5, but Johanssen served it out to push for a tiebreaker.  In the tiebreak, Noroozian and Johanssen held serve through the first five points, but Noroozian was able to force a ball into the net for a 4-2 lead.  From there, he pushed the lead to 6-3, but Johanssen served twice and held for 6-5.  Noroozian than blistered a serve that Johanssen couldn’t handle, sending it well wide and forcing a third.

Samaha meanwhile turned into the Hulk of tennis for a few moments, as he bageled Jarvis in the second set to even things up.  Maggs was able to force a third with a 6-3 win, and Azkara and Schifris held serve through 5-5 before Azkara broke in the 11th, setting up a 7-5 win.  Suddenly, everyone left on the board was in a third set.

Samaha after his 6-0 win found himself in a battle, fighting off a match point to force a 6-6 tiebreaker.  He took the lead in the tiebreak at 1-0, then fell behind 2-1 before reeling off three straight points for a 4-2 lead at the change.  Samaha then pulled away for a 7-4 win, giving UNM a 3-0 win and a ninth straight win for Georgio.

UNM just needed one more, and it was Noroozian who got it as he finished off a spirited match with a 6-2 service win for his ninth straight win.  Up 4-0, the two teams played the string out, and UNM held in all three other matches.  Azkara was able to pace himself for a 6-3 third set win, keeping him unbeaten at home at No. 1 and giving him a fourth straight win.

Abdulsalam showed off his huge serve in the third set, twice acing his way to a game win as he won 6-4 in the third to make it 6-0.  That just left everything to Alex Maggs, who was able to close out his match with a 6-3 third set over Markus Bodin.

The Lobos improved to 4-3 all-time against Drake.

NOTES:  UNM won the doubles point for the first time in seven matches … Samaha’s win was his team-leading 18th … UNM’s doubles pairings of Samaha/Noroozian and Abdulsalam/Matsushita had not played together all year … UNM is now 44-18 in singles (.710) in the spring …