MEN’S TENNIS DROPS 4-2 DECISION TO NEW MEXICO STATE

3/5/2011

Senior Kiryl Harbatsiuk won his 10th straight singles match, but the Hornets fell to New Mexico State

TUCSON, Ariz. -- New Mexico State won four of the five completed singles matches to defeat Sacramento State, 4-2, in a non-conference men’s tennis match Saturday morning at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.

The Aggies, who are currently ranked 56th in the nation (the ITA ranks the top 75 teams), won their sixth straight while improving to 7-4. Sacramento State dropped its third consecutive match while falling to 4-8. Six of those eight losses have now come against ranked opposition, including a 4-3 loss to 42nd-ranked Arizona yesterday morning. All but one of the Hornets’ matches this year have come away from home.

The Hornets started the match well, picking up the doubles point after the tandems of Kiryl Harbatsiuk/Marko Starcevic (8-6) and Aliaksandr Malko/Jason Smith (9-8) were each victorious. Harbatsiuk and Starcevic, who are ranked as the 80th best doubles team in the nation by the ITA, are now 6-1 this year.

However, it was a much different story in singles play as Harbatsiuk was the lone victorious Hornet, defeating 77th-ranked Arthur Surreaux by a 6-3, 6-0 score. Harbatsiuk, who is ranked 26th in the country, has now won 10 consecutive singles matches.

New Mexico State won at the Nos. 2-5 spots (all in straight sets) to provide the final margin of outcome. At No. 6, Javier Millan’s match against Felipe Frattini went unfinished because the Aggies already had the necessary four points to clinch the victory.

After spending nearly the entire season on the road, Sacramento State begins a season-long six-match homestand with a doubleheader on Friday, March 11, against both UT-Arlington (10 a.m.) and Big Sky Conference foe Montana State (4 p.m.).

Tennis Match Results
New Mexico State vs Sacramento State
Mar 05, 2011 at Tucson, Ariz.
(LaNelle Robson Tennis Center)

#56 New Mexico State 4, Sacramento State 2

Singles competition
1. #26 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SACMEN) def. #77 Arthur Surreaux (NMSU) 6-3, 6-0
2. Jim Brouleau (NMSU) def. #106 SMITH, Jason (SACMEN) 6-1, 6-4
3. Orlando Superlano (NMSU) def. MALKO, Aliaksandr (SACMEN) 6-0, 6-4
4. Matej Stakne (NMSU) def. STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) 6-1, 6-4
5. Luis Ramirez (NMSU) def. LORENTZEN, Josh (SACMEN) 6-2, 6-1
6. MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) vs. Felipe Frattini (NMSU) 5-7, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #80 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl/STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) def. Jim Brouleau/Matej Stakne (NMSU) 8-6
2. MALKO, Aliaksandr/SMITH, Jason (SACMEN) def. Orlando Superlano/Luis Ramirez (NMSU) 9-8 (7-4)
3. Arthur Surreaux/Marc Westgate (NMSU) def. LORENTZEN, Josh/MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) 8-5

Match Notes:
New Mexico State 7-4; National ranking #56
Sacramento State 4-8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,3,5,4)