Lobos Take Jack Kennedy Classic with 7-0 Shutout of ETSU
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jack Kennedy was certainly smiling down on the Lobos on Sunday.
On a day in which UNM not only needed a win, but at least five points to take the Second Annual Jack Kennedy Classic, the Lobos removed any doubt, winning all nine matches, three in doubles and six in singles, to take a convincing 7-0 shutout win over East Tennessee State, giving UNM the title on a tiebreaker. All three teams, UNM, ETSU and Cal Poly, finished 1-1, but UNM recorded 10 points to win the tiebreaker. Cal Poly finished second with six points and ETSU was third with five points.
UNM opened the match on the right note, taking the doubles point winning all three matches, all by identical 6-4 scores. Georgio Samaha and Nicolas Recoura won at No. 2 for a second straight match, this time taking down the No. 55 doubles team of Dimitri Badra and Francisco Lamas. Alex Maggs and Adra Azkara tooka 6-4 win at No. 1 to clinch the opening point, and they played it out at No. 3 doubles as it was 5-4 in favor of Rafael Abdulsalam and Avery Tallakson, and they finished it off with a 6-4 win.
That moved everything to singles, and UNM quickly removed a lot of the drama as UNM’s revamped lineup won all six first sets. UNM did move things around from Friday as Aram Noroozian and Arthur Bellegy flip-flopped with Noroozian moving to No. 2. Additionally, Georgio Samaha moved up to No. 4 and Rafael Abdulsalam moved to five. Chris Russell’s moves worked perfectly.
Bellegy looked like the player that led UNM in the fall with nine wins, blitzing Garcia early to win his opening set 6-3. That seemed to set the tone as everyone took their opening sets. Azkara at No. 1, Samaha and Abdulsalam needed all 12 games, each winning 7-5 with Azkara getting a key break in the 11th game after 10 service holds.
Bellegy finished first, giving UNM a 2-0 lead as he won 6-3, 6-3, and that was quickly followed by Noroozian’s 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 2 singles. It was just his fifth career match at No. 2 singles and it moved him to 2-0 in the spring.
Sitting at 3-0, UNM needed one to win, and two for the Kennedy Classic title. Four-year letterman Alex Maggs earned the first honor with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win, and it was Samaha with the title clincher. In front of his always large local contingent, Georgio bounced back from a 3-0 second-set defecit for a 7-5, 6-4 win, making it 5-0.
Even after Abdulsalam finished off Lucas Britez in a tiebreak 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), there was still a big piece of drama remaining, and it wasn’t just whether UNM could record the shutout.
Arda Azkara,ranked No. 122 nationally, had his perfect home No. 1 career record of 19-0 in jeopardy as Badra bounced back with an early break for a 6-3 second-set win. In the third, Azkara opened the third set serving, and he would hit seven aces in the set as he and Badra held serve over each of the first 11 games. Up 6-5 and a tiebreaker looming, Azkara led 15-30 in the final game when he hit the shot of the day. Badra attempted a lob to Azkara’s backhand and the lanky Turk not only returned it, but it was cross-court with pace, and hit landed just inside the line, angled where Badra could only watch it.
Rattle sufficiently, Badra on match point served his first short, and second long, and Azkara had his perfect home record at No. 1 move to 20-0, and UNM had its shutout.
NOTES: Bellegy and Samaha now lead the team with 10 wins on the season … UNM is 67-33 in singles and 20-17 in doubles … Matsushita’s doubles win was his team-leading eighth … Samaha has won six straight dating back to the fall, and Noroozian has five straight.