Lobos Knock Out UNLV, Advance to Semis
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — New Mexico took care of business, taking out UNLV for the second time in less than two weeks, this time 4-1, to advance to the Mountain West semifinals where the Lobos will face off against the No. 3 seeded Utah State Aggies at 6 pm Mountain Time in Las Vegas.
The Lobos took the doubles point by winning at Nos. 2 and 3, both by 6-3 scores. Aditya Balsekar and Avery Tallakson got a 6-3 win at No. 3 and Daniik Kakhniuk and Nicolas Recoura won at No.2 to give UNM a 1-0 lead. Despite a tough match at No. 1 singles with a pair of All-Conference performers battling it out, the Lobos won with relative ease.
Avery Tallakson, who has been nearly automatic over the last two months, won for the 14th time in his last 15 decisions to make it 2-0, crushing Roberto Hernandez at No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-1. The match moved to 3-1 when two matches ended at near identical times. On court 1, UNLV’s Illia Snitari, the Mountain West Player and Freshman of the Year, beat Aram Noroozian 6-0, 7-6 (7-2), but at No. 2 Balsekar won 6-3, 6-1 over Illia Maksymchuk.
That left UNM three shots to get one win, and they didn’t need but one. Kakhniuk, who has had a career hampered by injuries, won his 20th singles match in style, clinching the win with a 6-4, 6-3 win. That match turned at 2-2 when after winning a deuce point on serve to go up 3-2, Kakhniuk blasted opponent Joel Roberts with a love-set break, winning all four points to go up 4-2. After serving to go up 5-2 and then a hold, Kakhniuk this time served up a love-set for the win, giving UNM its 14th win of the season.
The No. 72 Lobos will now face Utah State, a team they beat exactly a week ago in Logan 4-1, the first home loss for Utah State in nearly two years. The winner of that match will face the winner of the other semifinal between Nevada and No. 42 Boise State in the finals. The winner of that advances to the NCAA Tournament although Boise State is in good shape for a potential at-large berth.
NOTES: Kakhniuk joined Dario Ciobutaru (20 wins) and Tallakson (23 wins) as 20-match singles winners, and they join Georgio Samaha (22 wins) and Noroozian (20 wins), who turned the trick in doubles … Tallakson’s 16 spring wins are easily the most on the team, ahead of Ciobotaru’s 11 … UNM has won 10 of its last 13.
