Lobos Edged 4-2 by Air Force in Women's Tennis

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico hung around and made Air Force work, but the Falcons were able to squeak a three-set win at No. 5 singles to take a 4-2 win over UNM.  The win pushed Air Force to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the Mountain West while UNM fell to 7-5 and 0-3 in the Mountain West.  The Lobos host Fresno State Sunday at 11 am, and Air Force and Fresno State play at 11 am on Saturday.

The key in the match turned out to be the tiebreaker in doubles.  UNM and Air Force each split an early match, with the Falcons winning 6-0 at No. 3 doubles as Arianna Van Houweling and Courtney Swift beat Sarah O’Connor and Maria Sodre.  That loss was canceled out at No. 2 doubles as Maud Vandeputte and Hsuan Huang took down Abby Cotuna and Isabella Flodin 6-3.

That meant the point would be decided at No. 1 singles, and Alexis Odum and Sydney Fitch squeaked out a 7-6 (7-1) win over Leonie Hoppe and Katherin Jhang, which gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

The Lobos got wins by Jhang and Vandeputte at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, and were in the match the whole time. Jhang’s 6-1, 6-1 win evened the match at 1-1, but UNM fell behind 3-1 before mounted a late charge.  Vandeputte won 6-4, 6-4 to make it 3-2, and Sarah O’Connor missed a chance to make it 3-3 when she lost a second-set tiebreaker 7-5. Moving her match to a third set.

She was sitting at 2-2 when Huang lost to Cotuna 6-2 in the third set, clinching the win for Air Force.