LAS CRUCES – The undefeated regular-season champions, New Mexico State women's tennis team, heads to Brownsville, Texas, for the Western Athletic Conference Championships in hopes to defend its title.
 
The three-day conference tournament is hosted by UT Rio Grande Valley, and is slated to begin on Friday, April 29, at the Brownsville Tennis Center between the No. 4-seed, Seattle U, and the No. 5-seed, Chicago State. The winner of that match moves on to play NM State, who earned the top seed, in the semifinals at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 30.
 
On the other side of the bracket in the semifinals are the second-seeded Vaqueros of UT Rio Grande Valley and the third-seeded 'Roos of UMKC. Should the Aggies advance to the finals, they will play the winner between UTRGV and UMKC on Sunday, May 1, at 8 a.m. in the championship match.
 
Heading into this weekend, Ashvarya Shrivastav paces the team with a 17-12 overall mark in singles while Mia Brandt is second on the team with 14 wins. Fellow seniors Erika Castillo Lopez and Chloe Jolliff are right on her tails with 13 wins and 10 wins, respectively.
 
Rimpledeep Kaur, a sophomore, is 8-3 on the year in singles action and riding a five-match winning-streak into this weekend's conference championship. The duo of Lindsay Harlas and Jolliff are 11-6 in doubles play and has won three-straight.
 
Last year at the WAC Championships, NM State opened up with a 4-0 win over Seattle U in the semifinals before sweeping UTRGV, then known as UT-Pan American, in the championship match 4-0.