Carlos Vargas is in his 12th season as the head coach of the helm of the NM State men’s tennis program after spending 18 years as an assistant at NM State.
With three freshmen occupying his line-up, Vargas guided the Aggies to their second-straight Western Athletic Conference regular-season title with a three-way tie for first at 4-1. Down 3-1 in the championship match, he led the Aggies comeback, clinched by First-Team All-WAC honoree Christofer Goncalves, against UMKC 4-3.
With the win, Vargas saw freshman Stijn de Haan and seniors Strahinja Trecakov and Liam Goldberg earn second-team honors in singles. His No. 3 singles team of Enrique Asmar and Mauri Benitez also received second-team honors in doubles.
Vargas also became the first coach in program history to lead the Aggies to back-to-back NCAA appearances.
In 2015, for the second year in a row, Vargas led the men’s tennis team to the championship match of the WAC Tournament and guided them to the program’s first conference tournament championship title as they won a hard-fought 4-3 match over UT-Pan American.
The win earned the Aggies an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, the third time ever in program history. NM State lost to top-seeded Oklahoma 4-0 with its lone win coming at the No. 2 doubles slot when Christofer Goncalves and Patrick Pfister defeated OU’s Spencer Papae and Dane Webb 8-4.
Vargas’ was named to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic team once again and also had a whopping seven players earn ITA Scholar-Athletes distinction. Five Aggies also earned WAC All-Academic team honors.
NM State finished the 2014 season with a trip to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to No. 1 Oklahoma. Overall, the Aggies had an 11-14 record for the 2014 season.
Under Vargas’ guidance, Strahinja Trecakov earned First-Team All-WAC honors while his teammate Naveen Manivannan earned Second-Team All-WAC honors in 2014. That same season, in doubles, Manivannan and Marc Westgate received First-Team All-WAC awards while the duo of Paul Denele and Patrick Pfister got Second-Team All-WAC selections..
Off the court in 2014, NM State was once again named an ITA All-Academic team with a WAC-leading eight players earning ITA Scholar-Athlete selections.
Vargas coached the 2012-13 team to a 14-9 season record and a 3-2 conference record. The Aggies’ season was highlighted by WAC Player of the Year Daniel Fernandez’s 12-4 singles finish and Marc Westgate and Luis Ramirez’s Second-Team All-WAC accolades.
Ramirez was named Second-Team All-WAC for singles play, while he and Westgate teamed up to receive Second-Team honor in doubles after going 10-4 on the year.
Under Vargas’ direction, senior Matej Stakne earned Firs- Team All-WAC honors in singles, while his teammates, junior Luis Ramirez and sophomore Marc Westgate claimed Second-Team All-WAC honors in doubles for their work in 2012.
Vargas guided the Aggies to a 15-8 overall record and a No. 50 ITA ranking in 2012, which included a 5-2 win over 54th-ranked UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev. That season, NM State spent 15 weeks in the polls. His team advanced to the program’s first WAC Championship match that resulted in a second-place finish, which was then the program’s best finish since joining the conference in 2005-06.
Additionally in 2012, Vargas guided senior Arthur Surreaux to the NCAA Singles Championships. Surreaux also earned Second-team All-WAC honors in singles.
Fellow senior Jim Brouleau was also earned Second-Team All-WAC accolades in singles and earned Second-Team All-WAC recognition in doubles. Junior Matej Stakne gained Second-Team All-WAC distinction for doubles while sophomore Orlando Superlano also earned Second-Team All-WAC in singles.
Prior to 2011, Vargas spent the previous 18 seasons as an assistant coach for the NM State tennis programs. Vargas dedicated his time towards assisting former head coach Don Ball with the men’s tennis team.
Working primarily with the men’s team during his coaching tenure, Vargas coached 12 different singles players to all-conference accolades and nine of his doubles teams received all-league honors.
In 2010, Brouleau was named Second-Team All-WAC while Roman Stoisavljevic and Eduardo Salas earned First-Team All-WAC honors in doubles.
Vargas guided the Aggies to a breakthrough season in 2009, one in which they got back into the national rankings for the first time since 2004. NM State spent a total of six weeks in the ITA polls and was ranked as high as No. 64 on March 17, the seventh-highest ranking in program history.
In recognition of NM State’s success in 2009, Vargas was named the 2009 ITA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Gustave Diep earned Second-Team All-WAC recognition in 2007 and 2008 and was named the ITA Mountain Region Player of the Year in 2007. Diep was also a two-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI selection under Vargas’ tutelage and became the program’s first academic All-American in 2009, as he was named to the ESPN the Magazine’s Academic All-America Second Team.
Finishing the 2009 season with a 13-11 record, Vargas led the Aggies to 10 or more victories for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons. NM State advanced to the semis of the 2009 WAC Championships for the third time in four years and, on Feb. 7, the Aggies defeated their first ranked opponent (No. 72 UNLV) since 2004.
In the 1999 season, Vargas led the Aggies to a program-record 17 dual-match victories and was named the Region VII Assistant Coach of the Year.
Vargas has twice led the Aggies into the NCAA Tournament, first in 1997 and again in 2000.
In addition to his coaching duties, Vargas also served as an instructor in the NM State School of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and gave lessons to Las Cruces area tennis players at the NM State Tennis Center.
A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Vargas came to the United States in 1980 to play tennis at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M. As a sophomore at NMMI, he was named the Broncos’ Most Valuable Player when he played at No. 3 singles.
After two years with the Broncos, Vargas accepted a scholarship at Arkansas State. There he played both No. 1 singles and doubles for two seasons. He graduated from Arkansas State in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Vargas resides in Las Cruces and has two sons, Emilio and Estefano.
