Lobos Edged by No. 66 CSU 4-3

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — New Mexico nearly pulled off an all-timer, coming back from down 3-0 to even with No. 66 Colorado State before ultimely falling 7-5 in the third set of the final singles match.  The loss drops UNM to 10-8 overall and 3-6 in the Mountain West as UNM plays Wyoming in an indoor match tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. to finish off the regular season.

Needing four singles wins after losing the doubles point, UNM nearly got the four it needed.  Katherine Jhang got UNM on the board after UNM fell behind 3-0 with a straight set 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 2 singles over Zara Lennon.  UNM needed had three first set wins left on the board, and CSU won all three second sets, pushing the match further.

Maud Vandeputte at No. 3 singles and Maria Sodre at No. 6 both found themselves tied 2-2 in the third set while Hsuan Huang was tied 1-1.  With UNM needing all three, Vandeputte and Sodre went to work, winning the last four in each game to make it 3-3, but Huang was down 5-3.  She was able to hold serve and then break serve to get it even, but her opponent Viktoria Zhadzinskaya got the break back and closed out the match with a harrowing 7-5 win in the third set.

NOTE: Tomorrow’s match was moved indoors due to weather and will start at 12:30 on just four courts.