Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 LAS VEGAS – Following an exhibition match against Western New Mexico late last week, the NM State men's tennis team officially began spring play on Friday afternoon at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the UNLV campus.
NM State's weekend-long stay in Sin City for the UNLV Quad began with a narrow 4-3 defeat to UC Riverside in the morning before dropping a second 4-3 decision to Weber State in the afternoon.
MATCH ONE | NM State 3, UC Riverside 4
DOUBLES
- While the duo of Jordy Visser and Yehor Opanasenko were able to secure a 6-4 win over UC Riverside's Antreas Djakouris and Joshua Roth from the No. 2 spot, NM State would drop its other two matches in doubles action – giving UC Riverside the advantage entering singles play.
SINGLES
- The first singles match that came to a close fell in favor of the Highlanders as Patrick Lohmann fell 6-0, 6-2 to Justin Lamy, NM State quickly bounced back by earning wins in the No. 4 and No. 3 spots.
- Sophomore Itay Feigin was able to collect his first win of the fresh season as he defeated UC Riverside's Matthew Yanuck 6-1, 6-0.
- Meanwhile, senior Jordy Visser followed suit as he evened the match at two points apiece by taking down the Highlanders' Joshua Roth by a score of 6-4, 6-1 on the third line.
- The ensuing individual matches were split between the two sides as UCR's Daniel Velek got the best of Roko Stipetic (7-5, 6-1) before Corey Clarke set the score at 3-3 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Antreas Djakouris at the No. 1 spot.
- With the match in the balance, the Aggies' Luca Fé D'Ostiani was in an extremely tight battle against Aarav Sane of UCR. After falling in the first set 4-6, Fé D'Ostiani clawed back to earn a 7-6 win in the second frame – forcing a third and final set. Unfortunately for the Aggies, Sane was able to edge out a 7-6 win over the Aggies' Italian sophomore thus earning the Highlanders the victory.
MATCH TWO | NM State 3, Weber State 4
DOUBLES
- The second half of the Aggies' day got off to a bumpy start as they dropped a pair of doubles matches before the third would end as a DNF.
SINGLES
- NM State's skill did begin to shine in the early portion of singles play, though, as Itay Feigin, Roko Stipetic and Yehor Opanasenko each earned wins to pull the Aggies within one point of claiming victory and two singles matches still being played. However, the Wildcats would pick up wins at both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots to close out the match.
- Feigin's second win of the day came in the form of a 6-4, 6-3 win over WSU's Matteo Savio.
- Meanwhile, Stipetic tallied his first win as an Aggie as he secured a hard-fought three-set win over the Wildcats' Jordan Coutinho.
- Lastly, Opanasenko joined Feigin and Stipetic in the win column with a win by retirement over Jack Lin.
UP NEXT
- The Aggies will now turn their focus to host UNLV whom they will compete against tomorrow at 11 a.m. MT as they continue their weekend in the desert.
++NM State++
