Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press

Holding a 4-2 lead over Lovington heading into the doubles play, the New Mexico Military Institute Colt boys’ tennis squad notched two clutch wins to tally a 6-3 win to capture the Goddard Invitational title Saturday afternoon at the NMMI Courts.

NMMI’s Kunal Camp and John McIntyre defeated Lovington’s Si Teel and David Corrales in three sets by the scores of 6-3, 6-7 and 8-6.

Entering the third set tied 1-1 in the match, NMMI’s Jose Robles and Ivan Belyaev won 8-6 in the third set tiebreaker to come out victorious over Lovington’s Cristian Mendoza and Renato Onofre.

NMMI defeated Goddard and Clovis on Day 1 action by the scores of 8-1 and 7-2, respectively, to get setup a chance to play for the title.

“Beautiful day for tennis,” said NMMI head coach John Barbour. “Our boys finished out the tournament with a win, which is good for us.

“This is their first tournament of the year. We’re definitely finding some things we need to work on, and to be able to walk away with a win but also knowing how much work is left to be done is a good thing.”

The Lady Colts battled Clovis on Day 1 to a 4-4 tie. NMMI’s Jasmine Muñoz fought valiantly in her match but Clovis edged out with a 5-4 win in the consolation bracket.

On Day 2, the NMMI girls were able to come away with a victory over the Goddard JV to win seventh place. St. Michael’s went on to capture the championship title over Alamogordo.

“Very proud of the girls,” Barbour said. “Again, we got a lot of new tennis players on the girls’ side, and they have really stepped up. There’s a lot of work to be done, but they worked really hard.

“I think as we go through the season … I think they’re going to get some wins.”

The Colts will have 10 days to prepare for their next duel against Goddard at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Goddard Courts.