Men's Tennis | Sunday 02/18/2018

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Down in his first set, Aggie freshman Louis Menard clawed his way back to win the second set 7-6 before dominating the final deciding third set 6-1 – which gave the New Mexico State men's tennis team the gritty win over UT Arlington Sunday afternoon at the NM State Tennis Center 4-3.
 
As well as the Aggies played in doubles action, UTA (6-2) was just as good and better at times – which allowed the Mavericks to come away with the doubles point after claiming wins on courts No. 1 and No. 2.
 
Enrique Asmar quickly tied the match up at 1-1 after dominating Eduard Simo 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. A 6-3, 6-2 loss on court No. 2 from Luis Flores saw NM State trail 2-1 not very long after that.
 
The back-and-forth match continued as Mauri Benitez best Abhishek Bostola at No. 5 singles 6-3, 6-2 before Sergi Espias was ousted at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-3. Back to his usual self, Christofer Goncalves tied things back up for NM State when he bested Guanarteme Nuez at the top singles slot in a hard-fought 7-6, 6-3 match – which set up the heroics for Menard.
 
The Aggies will now get a couple weeks rest before hitting the road for the HEB Invitational (March 2-3) in Corpus Christi, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.