Lobos Host Boise State on Senior Day with Title Implications
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three teams have a shot at a regular season Mountain West title, and two are in action at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium on Saturday as the New Mexico Lobos, ranked No. 72, host the No. 61 Boise State Broncos in a major MW battle that could decide the league’s regular season champion and determine who gets a bye in the Mountain West Tournament’s opening quarterfinal round.
The match, which is also Senior Day, will start at noon and the team will honor its three seniors in Alex Maggs, Ryoma Matsushita and Rafael Abdulsalam. The team is also hosting a pregame tailgate at 11 am outside the McKinnon gates.
New Mexico is coming off a Saturday sweep of Air Force and New Mexico State, winning 7-0 over Air Force and then 4-0 over New Mexico State. Georgio Samaha had a busy day, going 4-0 overall, and Nicolas Recoura won his second Mountain West Freshman of the Week Award with a 3-0 week.
As far as the standings go, Utah State and Boise State are both 4-1, and New Mexico is 3-1, having lost a match to weather at UNLV despite there being open courts for a potential makeup the next morning, and available indoor courts the night of the postponement. That lost match could prove crucial. Utah State with a win at San Diego State would clinch at least a share of the Mountain West title, and it would automatically earn the league’s top seed and a bye into the semifinals.
If Utah State loses to San Diego State (that match starts an hour after UNM’s), then the winner of UNM’s match with Boise State is the outright regular season champion and moves straight to the semifinals. A Lobo win coupled with a Utah State win would make UNM the No. 2 seed and UNM would face the No. 7 and last place team in the quarterfinals. A Boise State win coupled with a Utah State would make Boise State the two-seed, but the Broncos would earn a share of the regular season title. That scenario would knock UNM down to the No. 3 seed. If UNM loses and Utah State loses to San Diego State, UNM would be the No. 4 seed in the tournament.