Lobos to Face Stanford in First Round of NCAA Tournament
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – The New Mexico men’s tennis team, winners of the Mountain West Tournament, will begin play in the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday with a first round matchup against the national No. 4 seed Stanford Cardinal. Stanford, which is ranked No. 5 in the latest ITA rankings, went 22-5 on the season and won the ACC Tournament beating No. 6 Virginia 4-2 in the finals.
The Lobos are 16-8 this season and have won 12 of their final 15 matches. The team went 3-0 in the Mountain West Tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating host UNLV 4-1, No. 3 Utah State 4-2 and then shutting out No. 1 seed and No. 42-ranked Boise State 4-0. That win ended Boise State’s 13-match winning streak and it ended BSU’s quest for a three-peat. The Lobos have been led by 25-match winner Avery Tallakson who was named MVP of the Mountain West Tournament. Aram Noroozian was named All-Mountain West in singles and he and Georgio Samaha were named in doubles as well.
The Lobos and Stanford have met four times previously. The Lobos are 1-3 all-time against the Cardinal, winning 5-4 in 1967. UNM also played Stanford in 1972 (lost 8-1), 1985 (lost 8-1), and in 1997, when UNM lost 7-0 in the season opener when Stanford was ranked No. 1 in the nation.
New Mexico is making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2021 when it lost to No. 8 Texas A&M 4-1 in College Station. UNM’s first appearance was in 1991, a 5-3 loss to Mississippi State.
The winner of the match will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday against the winner of the matchup of Alabama and Pepperdine.
