Lobos Head South for a Weekend Set
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After a five-match homestand, the Lobos women’s tennis team now heads south to take on future Mountain West opponent UTEP and rival New Mexico State in a pair of weekend matches, with UNM at UTEP on Friday, February 14 at 10 am and at New Mexico State on Saturday, February 15 at 11 am.
The Lobos are coming off a split weekend in which the squad lost 4-0 to Colorado and then swept Weber State 7-0 on Sunday. The 4-0 loss to Colorado is a bit deceiving as UNM was on the way to at least one win (Sarah O’Connor at No. 3) and had two other matches where Lobos were about to force third sets (Rebekkah Gaines at No. 1 and Maud Vandeputte at No. 2). Against Weber State, there was no such drama in singles as UNM won all 12 sets in the singles portion of the match after a tight doubles point.
The weekend was a big one for O’Connor, who was three games away from her biggest win of the season., leading 6-3, 3-2 when the match was halted. Vandeputte also had a solid weekend as well, and Rebekkah Gaines lost her opening set 6-0 and then pushed to 5-5 and was leading in the 11th game when the match was halted. She also won 6-4, 6-4 against Sydney Schnell of Weber State.
Maria Sodre leads the team with nine singles wins, and Sodre and Gaines as a tandem have the most doubles wins with five. Overall Sodre has eight doubles wins, tops on the team.
UTEP is off to a 3-1 start on the season, the best start for the program since starting 3-1 in 2015-16. UTEP has faced two similar opponents to UNM, with wins over Weber State (4-0) and Western New Mexico (6-1). Paloma Hennicaux leads the team with a 13-4 record, and Carlotta Mencaglia is 3-0 at No. 1 singles. Hennicaux is 1-1 against UNM this season, losing to Maria Sodre and defeating Maria Matsoukatidi.
New Mexico State has played nine matches and they are off to a 6-3 start, with wins over Weber State 7-0 and four wins over non-Division I programs. The Aggies also played Gonzaga, losing 4-1. Anna Pinaieva is a veteran leader for the Aggies and she sports a 6-2 spring record at No. 1 singles. In the only crossover match from the fall, Pinaieva defeated Maud Vandeputte in a close three-set match.
Neither match this weekend will have live streaming or live scoring.