Wednesday, 04/21/2010

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s tennis team stomached a 4-3 hard-luck loss to No. 22 Boise State as the match came down to the No. 3 singles spot with Lobo Jadon Phillips dropping the third set to Fillip Pogostkin, sending the Lobos to a heartbreaking defeat.

In a match that went down to the wire, Phillips led 5-4 before Pogostkin outlasted the UNM freshman, sealing the Broncos win with a dramatic final set victory of 7-5 Thursday afternoon at the Linda Estes Tennis Center.

The loss drops UNM to 6-11 on the season while the Broncos improve to 17-9. UNM looked poised to snap a three-match losing streak, winning the doubles point to go up early and having Phillips, who entered the match 9-3 at the No. 3 position, left with the deciding game.

It was not to be, however, as Phillips, who pulled out the first set 7-6 and lost the second 7-5, allowed Pogostkin to rally for three games in the third set to win it.

The Lobos’ other freshman, Conor Berg, extended his singles winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Jeff Mullen at the No. 6 position. Since the Lobos swept the doubles side, Berg and partner Ben Dunbar continued their doubles win streak, which is now at six matches.

This is UNM’s first four-match losing streak since 2000 and their fifth 4-3 loss this season.

The Lobos close out their home schedule on Sunday, April 18, hosting conference rival and 63rd-ranked TCU at 1 p.m. at the Linda Estes Tennis Center on south campus.

#22 Boise State 4, University of New Mexico 3

Singles competition
1. No. 42 James Meredith (BSU) def. Ben Dunbar (NM) 6-3, 6-4
2. Vicente Joli (BSU) def. Carl Ho (NM) 6-0, 7-6
3. Filipp Pogostkin (BSU) def. Jadon Phillips (NM) 7-6, 5-7, 7-5
4. Phil Anderson (NM) def. Harry Skinner (BSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Alex Bothe (BSU) def. Joe Wood (NM) 6-2, 7-5
6. Conor Berg (NM) def. Jeff Mullen (BSU) 6-1, 7-6

Doubles competition
1. Jadon Phillips/Phil Anderson (NM) def. James Meredith/Jeff Mullen (BSU) 8-6
2. Ben Dunbar/Conor Berg (NM) def. Vicente Joli/Filipp Pogostkin (BSU) 9-7
3. Joe Wood/Carl Ho (NM) def. Alex Bothe/Erik Sheldon (BSU) 8-6

Match Notes:
Boise State 17-4; National ranking #22
University of New Mexico 6-11
T-4:15