Simon Arca Costas reaches a milestone, but Boise State falls to New Mexico in tennis

BOISE, Idaho — Boise State lost their first conference match of the season as they were defeated by the New Mexico Lobos 4-3 on Friday.

The Broncos fall to 3-1 in the Mountain West while New Mexico improves to 3-0, the loss will make it difficult for the Broncos to overtake the Lobos in the Mountain West's six game conference season.

Simon Arca Costas won his singles match giving the 5th-year senior from Spain win number one hundred in singles play, he becomes the 7th Bronco to reach that benchmark and he will go down as an all-time great.

"It is really special being on top of the list with such great players." said Costas. "My coach is number one on the list I’m trying to catch him, but it will be very difficult."

Boise State head coach Luke Shields was an All-American at Boise State, he was inducted into the Boise State Hall of Fame in 2020 and he won 119 games in his illustrious career.

So it made sense that Costas would reach 100 wins on alumni weekend as former players came from as far away as France, players represented the 1993 Big Sky Conference champions, the 2003 WAC championship team and the 2013 Mountain West championship squad.

"I really want to thank them for coming it is really special.," said Costas. "They are all champions, I really want to say congratulations to them because they deserve it."

Boise State got singles wins from Costas, James Van Herzeele and Idriss Haddouch, but they lost in doubles and three other singles matches with the players from both teams cheering on their teammates before New Mexico scored the game winning point.

"That’s what makes college tennis different from professional tennis," said Michael Bott, another 5th-year senior. "We had an awesome crowd today, thank you everyone for coming out and that Boise support I think it's the best tennis community in the country."

Boise State was represented in Friday's match by players from Spain, Belgium, Germany, Thailand and Japan bringing an international flavor to Boise State's campus.

"It’s super cool being one of the few Americans on the team," said Bott. "They are all interesting in their own way, I love them to death."

Boise State will play at Nevada before returning home for their final match of the season next Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

"Next week is last match, my senior day and I would like to invite everyone to come out and watch some good tennis," said Costa. "It is really an honor to be here to play for this program."

Boise State is ranked 61st in the nation, they are 18-5 on the season, New Mexico is ranked 73rd and these two teams could meet again in the Mountain West Conference tournament.