The New Mexico men’s tennis team got blanked by Columbia on Friday, but bounced back to earn a split on Saturday in Pennsylvania.
Columbia jumped all over the Lobos on Friday, winning the first two doubles matches to garner the point for doubles competition. Columbia’s Richard Pham and Shawn Hadavi got by the reunited duo of Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen, 6-2, followed by the pair of Miguel Alda and Eric Rubin, who defeated Jorge Escutia and Ricky Hernandez-Tong, 6-4.
The Lions continued to apply pressure, coming out victorious in the first three matches in singles play to earn the 4-0 win over the Lobos. They were also leading two of the other three matches, although Rodolfo Jauregui and Van Leijsen had forced third sets before Columbia earned the team victory.
Head coach Bart Scott said Columbia is one of the top programs in the country and knew they would have their hands full. Columbia, ranked 16th in the country, might have also been eager to get the taste of three consecutive losses at the ITA Team Indoor Championship out of its mouth.
“They are a very well-coached team and their players don’t give an inch,” Scott said in a statement. “When you dig a hole early like the way we did, although we showed tremendous heart and fight battling back, against a team like that, it’s nearly impossible to win.”
The Lobos played much better on Saturday, especially in the morning matchup against Monmouth.
Head coach Bart Scott continued experimenting with the doubles pairing and the decision yielded immediate results. Van Leijsen paired with Augustus Ge and earned a victory over Ale Gomez Estrada and Przemyslaw Filipek, 6-3, while Hernandez-Tong and Escutia secured the doubles point by besting Vidit Vaghela and Nicola Pipoli, 6-2.
This time the Lobos rode the momentum to a 4-0 victory, winning the first three singles matches in straight sets. Sabatka topped Filipek, 6-3, 6-3, Van Leijsen defeating Vaghela 6-2, 6-4, and Hernandez-Tong bested Pipoli, 6-1, 6-4. Sean Baklini also saw his first action this season, although his match went unfinished due to the team clinching victory.
In the afternoon, the Lobos took on Pennsylvania. UNM got off to a good start but seemed to lose steam as the day progressed.
The Lobos won the first doubles match, in which Ge and Jauregui got by Thomas Spratt and Matt Nardella, 6-4. Sabatka and Van Leijsen were unable to seal the doubles point, falling to Austin Kaplan and Nicholai Westergaard in a thrilling tiebreaker, 6-7 (8-10). Hernandez-Tong and Escutia finished the job by winning their tiebreaker over Dmitry Shatalin and Kyle Mautner, 7-6 (7-5).
However, the doubles point proved to be the only one the Lobos would walk away with, as the Quakers swept singles play to pick up a 6-1 team win. New Mexico was only able to force a third set in one of the singles matches.
“Quite simply, they outplayed us after the doubles,” Scott said in a text message to the Daily Lobo. “They are very good at home.”
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New Mexico falls to 3-10 on the season, but will finally return to Albuquerque to play in its home opener. The team squares off against DePaul and Utah in a doubleheader.
Scott said the team is excited to get home and begin an eight match stretch, which includes a tournament that he created with Ryan Redondo of Pacific.
Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
