UNM continues MWC play with visits to UNLV, SDSU
ALBUQUERUQE, N.M.—The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team will compete in two conference road matches this weekend, taking on No. 66 UNLV on Friday at 1 p.m. in Las Vegas and No. 75 San Diego Stat Sunday at 12 p.m. in San Diego.
The Lobos currently sport a 6-8 overall record, which includes a 1-1 conference mark after splitting two conference matches last week, a 5-2 win over Utah and a 5-2 loss to No. 32 BYU.
UNM looks to turn things around on the road, having just a 1-6 mark away from Albuquerque this season.
The Lobos have not been ranked since March 2 when they checked in at No. 54 in the nation.
UNM has used nine different doubles combinations this dual season, including six at the No. 2 position.
Head coach Alan Dils, in his 14th season, is 10 wins shy of 200 with a 190-126 career coaching mark at UNM.
SCOUTING UNLV AND SDSU
The Rebels last faced UNM in the semifinals of the 2009 Mountain West Conference tournament where UNM won 4-1 to improve to 17-9 against UNLV all-time. This season the Rebels own a 10-8 record with all 10 wins coming on their home courts. The Rebels are coming off a 4-3 loss to No. 66 TCU and have four players in double-digit singles wins.
The Aztecs opened the season with a 2-10 record, but have gone 4-1 since to take their record to 6-11. San Diego State is coming off dramatic back-to-back 4-3 victories against No. 66 TCU and No. 58 San Diego. Before dueling the Lobos, San Diego State will meet up with UC Riverside on Friday while UNM is playing UNLV. The Aztecs finished 2009 15-12 and are 19-25 all-time against the Lobos. Senior Juan Gomez and sophomore Luis Rattenhuber, who form the No. 76 ranked doubles team in the country, have been critical to the team’s recent success.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Freshman Jadon Phillips is thriving in the No. 3 position for the Lobos with an 8-2 record at the slot in singles. He won both his conference matches last week and is 9-5 in dual play this spring for an 18-10 record overall.
Sophomore Carl Ho also sports a winning record at the No. 2 position, going 5-3 since moving from the No. 1 slot earlier in the season.
The Lobos have a small winning edge in singles duals with a 42-40 mark in the spring season. Overall, spring and fall combined, UNM is 91-76 in singles for a .545 percentage. All six Lobos in the starting lineup have a winning record in fall and spring single wins combined.
SERVING UP A CURE
The University of New Mexico men's and women's tennis teams are partnering up with the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA) to help in the fight against ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The tennis teams will coordinate a season-long campaign, Serving Up A Cure, to help raise money for ALS research.
Serving Up A Cure will allow people to get involved in a couple of different ways. Donors can pledge money per match or per set won for either the men's or women's tennis teams. Forms to make donations and instructions for submitting them can be found at GOLOBOS.com on either the men's or women's tennis page. ALS affects adults of all ages, sexes and races. Every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease and every 90 minutes someone dies from this disease. There is no known cause or cure and the cost for an ALS patient is $200,000 per year.
Please help the men's and women's tennis teams fight against ALS. For more information contact Roy Cañada at
rcanada@unm.edu or at 925-5780.
