ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Santa Clara men's tennis jumped to a 2-0 lead against New Mexico but was edged down the stretch losing a pair of three-set matches to fall 5-2 on Friday.
The Broncos (2-1) picked up the doubles point and the first singles point to go up 2-0 on the road behind the strong play of sophomore Guillaume Dalmasso.
Dalmasso had a hand in both points, teaming up with Arthur Neuhaus to clinch the doubles point over Alex Maggs and Jan Pucalka, 7-5. He followed up with a singles win on court three over Daniil Kakhniuk 6-1, 6-3.
New Mexico (1-2) came back to win at courts one, six and five to take a 3-2 lead.
The Broncos had a chance to even the score at 3-all as Neuhaus won the first set against Rafael Abdulsalam on court two, before falling in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 that clinched the match for the Lobos.
Maggs defeated James Bell in a hotly contested match that went to a tiebreaker in each of the three sets, 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3) to give New Mexico a 5-2 win.
NEXT UP
The Broncos play a neutral site match against Grand Canyon on Saturday. The serve first is at 10 a.m. PT from the Linda Estes Tennis Complex on the University of New Mexico campus.
New Mexico 5, Santa Clara 2
Feb 11, 2022 at Albuquerque, N.M. (McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium)
Singles competition
1. AZKARA, Arda (NM) def. Mann Shah (SCUM) 6-4, 6-1
2. ABDULSALAM, Rafael (NM) def. Arthur Neuhaus (SCUM) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Guillaume Dalmasso (SCUM) def. KAKHNIUK, Daniil (NM) 6-1, 6-3
4. MAGGS, Alex (NM) def. James Bell (SCUM) 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3)
5. PUCALKA, Jan (NM) def. Nick Cmager (SCUM) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
6. SAMAHA, Georgio (NM) def. Ryan Ali (SCUM) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Arthur Neuhaus/Guillaume Dalmasso (SCUM) def. MAGGS, Alex/PUCALKA, Jan (NM) 7-5
2. Mann Shah/James Bell (SCUM) def. PRIETO, Nicolas/AZKARA, Arda (NM) 6-4
3. ABDULSALAM, Rafael/SAMAHA, Georgio (NM) vs. Nick Cmager/Matthew Rodriguez (SCUM) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes
Santa Clara 2-1
New Mexico 1-2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,1,6,5,2,4)
T-3:24 A-174
