LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's tennis team lost its third match in as many days on Sunday when it fell to UT Arlington 5-1 at the NM State Tennis Center.
 
The Aggies (4-8) did their best to fend off a tough Mavericks team in doubles play, but wound up dropping the point with losses on courts No. 2 and No. 1, respectively.
 
UTA (4-3) took an early 2-0 lead in singles action when Helena Colvee was bested at No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-1 to Lucia Natal. Yadira Rubio put NM State on the board shortly after with a 6-3, 6-1 victory on court No. 5 against Nanaka Takeuchi but it ended up being the Aggies' lone point of the match.
 
A back-and-forth battle in the early stages of both sets kept Vanessa Valdez within striking distance, but she eventually fell 6-4, 6-4 at the top singles slot. Lindsay Harlas had a tooth-and-nail battle in the first set against Anna Wichert, but couldn't hold her off in the end and fell 7-5, 6-2 – which clinched the match for the Mavericks.
 
Rebecca Keijzerwaard and Momka Horiguchi went toe-to-toe in the first set that saw UTA win before a 6-3 decision in the second saw the Mavericks get their fifth point with a 7-6, 6-3 win.
 
New Mexico State will hit the road next Saturday, March 10, for a neutral match in #Aggiequerque once again, this time a noon contest against BYU.