Lobos Down UTSA 5-2 for Sixth Straight Win
WICHITA, Kan. — New Mexico stayed hot, taking five singles matches and getting a second straight clinching win from Aram Noroozian as the Lobos defeated UTSA 5-2 for a sixth straight win, pushing UNM’s record to 7-2. UNM will have a long 15-day break before traveling to take on an equally hot Santa Clara Broncos squad on March 3.
For the first time this season, UNM won a match when losing the doubles point, having lost its two previous entanglements, against Cal Poly in the opener and Arkansas. This time UNM was able to recover.
The doubles point went to the Roadrunners as they took both No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Tiago Torres and Miguel Alonso won 6-4 at No. 2 over Nicolas Recoura and Georgio Samaha, and then Jackson Ross and Garrett Skelly beat Ryoma Matsushita and Avery Tallakson 7-5 at No. 3 doubles. That finished doubles before UNM’s top tandem of Arda Azkara and Alex Maggs could finish with No. 27 Alan Magadan and Tomas Pinho. Azkara and Maggs held a 6-5 lead when they were halted.
Down 1-0, UNM bolted to a commanding lead in singles and methodically finished one match after the other to get four straight wins for the match. Arthur Bellegy was first, winning 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles in his first match there since the opener, beating Magadan.
Azkara stayed perfect in the spring with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Torres, moving to 7-0 in the spring. That made it 2-1, and Georgio Samaha, whose 10-match winning streak ended yesterday, bounced back with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 4 over Ross.
Noroozian got the clinching honors for a second straight week, winning 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 singles over Pinho to give UNM a 4-1 win.
With the match clinched, the final two matches were decided on third-set 10-point tiebreakers, with Miguel Alonso of UTSA winning 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4) over Alex Maggs at No. 6, making it 4-2.
Rafael Abdulsalam won his tiebreaker, winning 7-5. 2-6, 1-0 (10-8) for the 5-2 final score.
NOTES: Azkara has won seven straight in singles, with Samaha winning 11 of 12, Bellegy winning seven of his last eight, Abdulsalam winning five of his last six, and Maggs winning four of his last five … Samaha’s 24 total wins lead the team … Bellegy’s 16 singles wins leads the team (16-4), one ahead of Samaha (15-3) … UNM is 39-12 in singles in the spring (.765).