No. 1 Seeded Lobos Shut Out No. 5 Utah, Advance To Championships

New Mexico Will Play Either No. 2 UNLV or No. 3 SDSU

Sophomore Henry Gers clinched the win for the Lobos over fifth-seeded Utah to advance to the MWC Championship match.
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April 30, 2004

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The top-seeded New Mexico men's tennis team (15-5) shutout fifth-seeded Utah in the Mountain West Conference Championships semifinal game in San Diego, Calif. Friday afternoon to advance to the championship match for the second straight year.

Senior Divan Coetzee and freshman Hiroud Akhavan grabbed the first win at No. 2 doubles with a 8-1 win over Nick Coutts and Tomasz Grzyb. Juniors Ryan Stotland and David Kowalski then clinched the doubles point with their 8-4 win over Roeland Brateanu and Miron Mann at No. 1. Senior Jasmin Hodzic and sophomore Henry Gers were leading 7-4 at No. 3 over Ryan Scott and Jason Yap but did not finish the match.

Akhavan cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles for the second UNM point, beating Yap. Hodzic garnered the third point with his 6-2, 6-2 win over Scott in the sixth spot. Sealing the win for New Mexico was Gers at No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Coutts.

Coetzee completed the sweep with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 over Brateanu. His win was the 36th of the season and the 95th of his career. Coetzee is one win away from tying the all-time win record at UNM which is currently held by Pepe Caballero.

Stotland was leading Mann, 6-3, 6-6 at No. 3 and Grzyb held a 6-2, 5-4 advantage over Kowalski at No. 2 before the matches were called.

The Lobos will play the winner of No. 2 UNLV and No. 3 San Diego State tomorrow at 12 p.m. PDT.