RENO, Nev. --- New Mexico's 4-0 win over Nevada on Wednesday afternoon might not have been the biggest in the Rob Bareford tenure, but it might have been the most satisfying.
The Lobos fought hard, dug deep, and came out with a shutout for its first conference win, and a road win to boot. That the doubles point came at the expense of a former player who transferred out made it all a little sweeter.
In doubles, UNM fell behind when Remy Tregoures and Greg Valente beat Tyler Waddock and Connor Dils 6-2, but UNM held off Nevada for the opening point. UNM tied doubles at one when UNM's No. 1 team of Jakub Prachar and Alberto Perez beat former Lobo Nicolas Recoura and Ibrahim Snoussi 6-4, setting up UNM's No. 3 team for the clinch.
Philip Bosin and Dario Ciobotaru were up 5-4 when it became tied, and they finished out a 6-4 win over Max Contet and Axel Huysmans.
That sent the match to singles with UNM up 1-0, and singles was tight throughout. What gave UNM a lift was a superb match by Waddock, who picked up his easiest win of the season with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Cotent to make it 2-0. Philip Bosin made it 3-0 with a not-quite-as-dominating 6-3, 6-3 win over Huysman, Bosin's team leading 15th victory of the year.
That left UNM needing one more, but it would have to come in a three-set match somewhere. Recoura and Dils were locked in a battle in their opening set, which was the last opener to finish. In a tiebreaker, Dils held a 6-3 lead, but the match extended for a while, with Recoura eventually winning 12-10. Ciobotaru at No. 1 and Perez at No. 3 lost their opening sets, but Prachar got a win, to give UNM a shot at the clinch.
Perez couldn't ice his match, losing the second 6-2 to Snoussi, but Ciobotaru forced a third with a 6-4 win, and Pracher was forced into a third by Valente. Nevada, with a sweep of the third set everywhere, would have stolen away a win, but the Lobos were dominant in the third.
Perez earned two breaks in winning his match 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to clinch the win, and that ended things. Prachar was close to a win, up 5-1 and serving in the third, and Ciobotaru and Tregoures were locked in a tight match, fitting for two of the top No. 1s in the league, at 3-6, 6-4, 3-3.
Connor Dils was seconds away from forcing another tiebreaker, down 6-5, when the match was halted.
The win moved UNM to 7-13 overall and 1-3 in the league, while Nevada dropped to 9-8 and 0-5 in the conference. The win for UNM marked a second straight victory, and it was cathartic for UNM, which had lost two conference heartbreakers to ranked Mountain West teams, falling 4-3 at Grand Canyon and 4-3 to Boise State.
The Lobos head home to face UNLV at McKinnon on Saturday, looking for a third straight win.