ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — UNM both opens its Mountain West home schedule and closes it in the same weekend as the Lobos host Air Force Friday at 1 p.m. and then Fresno State on Sunday at 11 am. Air Force and Fresno State will play each other on Saturday at 11 am.
The Mountain West uses a pod scheduling system. meaning teams tend to play more road and neutral matches than home matches. For UNM, it has just two, and that’s this weekend.
Last weekend, UNM traveled to Las Vegas and lost to No. 49 San Diego State 4-1 and then to UNLV 4-0. The Lobos took the doubles point and lost four singles matches in each match. The Lobos however had the lead and looked to take both, meaning while they lost, there were in both matches and had their chances.
The Lobos will need for the No. 3 doubles tandem of Maria Sodre and Sarah O’Connor will need to continue their hot play. They have won six straight together and nine of their last 10, keying UNM’s solid play for doubles. In singles, UNM will need to continue it’s bottom of the lineup success. UNM is 6-0 at No. 4, 5-2 at No. 5 and 5-4 at No. 6 this year. Vandeputte is 6-0 in dual play this spring, and has won seven straight dating back to last fall. She leads the team with 16 singles wins.