Lobos Fall at Air Force 4-3

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico went into its match-up with Air Force down conference player of the year candidate Aram Noroozian, and the Air Force Falcons were able to take advantage, getting a comeback win at No. 6 singles over Nicolas Recoura as the Falcons defeated UNM for the first time in 20 years with a 4-3 win.

The loss ended UNM’s six-match winning streak, and it was the first win for Air Force over UNM since a 5-2 win in the 2005 Mountain West Tournament.  The Lobos had won 25 in a row over Air Force since that last loss.

UNM had its chances, and ironically the entire match hinged on a pair of match points in doubles.  UNM won at No. 3 doubles as Georgio Samaha moved down to No. 3 to pair with Dario Ciobotaru, and they took a convincing 6-1 win over AJ Moore and Langdon Tingleaf.  Danill Kakhniuk and Nicolas Recoura moved up to No. 1 doubles but lost 6-4 to Arjun Kersten and Jack Brown, but UNM had double-match point on Phillip Deaton and Tyler Laird, but Aditya Balkesar and Avery Tallakson couldn’t convert either.  The match went to a tiebreaker after Leaird’s serve hit the net but found the service box for a lucky ace to force a tiebreaker.

There, UNM had a 3-2 lead before Air Force won five straight points for the doubles point, which turned out to be key.

With everyone moving up, Ciobotaru picked up a third straight win and his first at No. 2 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kersten.  That opened up a court for Avery Tallakson to play at No. 5 for UNM (Air Force has just four indoor courts).  Georgio Samaha dropped a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 decision to Moore, and Balkesar, playing at No. 1, lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 when he called a ball out but was overruled for match point against Deaton.  That made it 3-1 Air Force and it put the No. 6 singles match on the court.  UNM then got wins to even things up.  Kakhniuk won his seventh straight match with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Alec Fritzinger at No. 4, and the Tallakson won his 10th straight match but first at No. 5, winning 6-4, 6-2 over Matthew Staton.

That forced everything to No. 6, and it looked good for UNM when Recoura won the opening set 6-1, but Jack Brown bounced back for a 6-3 win in set two, and a 6-4 win in set three for the match.  New Mexico dropped to 10-6 and 1-1 in the Mountain West, while Air Force moved to 9-8 and 1-1.  The Lobos stay north and face Denver tomorrow at 11 am.

NOTES:  Kakhniuk and Tallakson both have a team-leading 19 wins.  Noroozian had won eight straight in singles and was 17-6 in doubles.