LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's tennis team looks return to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 as it opens the Western Athletic Conference Championship at 9 a.m. (MT) on Saturday, April 29, at the NM State Tennis Center.
 
The Aggies look to make their run on their home court with an opportunity to avenge their loss to UT Rio Grande Valley last season in the championship match.
 
New Mexico State enters the match as the No. 2 seed while UTRGV comes to conference championship as the No. 3 seed. The Aggies finished WAC play 3-2 while the Vaqueros completed conference action 2-3.
 
Rimpledeep Kaur was named the WAC Player of the Year Thursday night at the awards banquet after going undefeated in conference play (5-0) in the top singles flight while owning an overall mark of 14-9 and 11-7 in dual action.
 
Joining Kaur on the first-team was freshman Vanessa Valdez. The Mazatlán, Mexico, native went 16-16 in her first season and was nearly perfect in conference play at 4-1. Valdez was also 2-0 when she competed at the top single slot for NM State.
 
Kaur and Marie-Pier Thiffault claimed First-Team All-WAC honors after going 10-4 overall and in dual play. The duo also swept their opponents in WAC matches with a perfect 5-0 record. The top NM State doubles team head into this weekend's conference championship with a five-match winning-streak.
 
Sophomore Lindsay Harlas and senior Gabrielle Joyce added Second-Team All-WAC accolades for the Aggies thanks to their 13-3 mark at No. 3 doubles. The duo wrapped up the dual season 11-2 with a 4-1 record in WAC contests while winning eight of their last 10 matches.
 
Should the Aggies defeat UTRGV on Saturday, they will play the winner between top-seeded UMKC and No. 5 Seattle U in the championship match on Sunday, April 30, at 9 a.m. (MT) for the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.