LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Although the Western New Mexico University men's tennis team fell to Division One New Mexico State Wednesday, the Mustangs came close in a pair of matches before dropping a 7-0 decision.


WNMU (12-9) came close in each of the doubles matches, with Johan Weich (Landskrona, Sweden/Filbornaskolan High School)/Alvaro Nunez (Madrid, Spain/) winning three games before falling, 8-3 at the top flight. Both No. 2 and No. 3 lost 8-4, with Rodrigo Almeida (Arapongas, Brazil/Nene Lourenco High School)/Jean Benoit Belin (Nimes, France/Emmanuel d'Alzon High School) playing at No. 2 and Omar Lopez (Naucalpan, Mexico/)/Roy Ulibarri (Dexter, NM/Dexter High School) at No. 3.


In singles, NMSU (8-14) held on despite a few being close. Almeida saw his match winning streak end at 11, but not without a fight. After dropping the first set, 6-4, he came back to win a second-set tiebreaker (7-6) and then went as far as he could in the final set before falling, 10-8. Weich came close at No. 2, as he came close to forcing a tiebreaker in the first set before falling, 7-5 and then dropping the second set, 6-3. Matthieu Covizzi (Noailly, France/) won three games in each set at No. 3 before losing, 6-3, 6-3. At No. 4, Belin had a tough first set, falling 6-4 and then lost the second set, 6-2. Both Nunez and Ulibarri lost 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 and No. 6.


WNMU will now prepare for the RMAC Tournament as being the top seed in the tournament, they will have a bye in the first round. WNMU will face the winner of the #4 Metro State/#5 CSU-Pueblo match at 2 p.m. on Friday in Denver. The complete bracket can be found by clicking here