TUCSON, Ariz. – The NM State men's tennis team saw its first win slip away after going up 3-0, and fell to Gonzaga, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.
 
NM State (0-2) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after taking the doubles points with wins on court No. 2 and No. 3. The Aggies' freshman duo of Stijn de Haan and Mauri Benitez were able to cruise past their foes from Gonzaga 6-3 before NM State's No. 1 pair fell 6-4.
 
It all came to Enrique Asmar and Donovan Cellupica-Towers who had their GU (2-0) counterparts, Ronzai Saurombe and Vicente Varas, tied at 5-5 before pulling away 7-5.
 
De Haan's momentum continued to roll in singles play as the freshman ousted Varas 6-2, 6-4 on court No. 4. Benitez then put NM State on top 3-0 when he downed Saurombe 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 5 position.
 
After Benitez's win, the tide began to turn for the Aggies. Cellupica-Towers was the first to fall for NM State on court No. 6 before Strahinja Trecakov and Cristofer Goncalves lost both of their second sets, 6-5.
 
With the match tied at 3-3, NM State's Asmar was able to force a third set with a 6-4 win in second set. However Jordan Smith got the best of the Barranquilla, Colombia, native in the third set and handed NM State its second loss of the season.
 
The Aggies now head home to Las Cruces for a few days before taking off to Las Vegas, Nev., for a trio of matches against the host, UNLV, UC Riverside and Weber State. The three matches will begin on Friday, Feb. 5, and end on Sunday with all matches starting at 2 p.m. (MT).
 
Match #1
Gonzaga 4, NM State 3
January 30, 2016
LaNelle Robson Tennis Center
Tucson, Ariz.
 
Doubles

1. H. Smith/J. Smith (GON) def. Trecakov/Goldberg (NMSU) – 6-4
2. de Haan/Benitez (NMSU) def. Moreno/O'Sullivan (GON) – 6-3
3. Asmar/Cellupica-Towers (NMSU) def. Saurombe/Varas (GON) – 7-5

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
 
Singles

1. Hayden Smith (GON) def. Strahinja Trecakov (NMSU) – 6-3, 6-5
2. Jordan Smith (GON) def. Cristofer Goncalves (NMSU) – 6-5, 6-5
3. Ruadhan O'Sullivan (GON) def. Enrique Asmar (NMSU) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
4. Stijn de Haan (NMSU) def. Vicente Varas (GON) – 6-2, 6-4
5. Mauri Benitez (NMSU) def. Ronzai Saurombe (GON) – 6-2, 6-2
6. Emilio Moreno (GON) def. Donovan Cellupica-Towers (NMSU) – 6-1, 6-3

Order of Finish: 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3*