Men's Tennis | Thursday 04/12/2018

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State head men's tennis coach Carlos Vargas leads his team into Chicago this weekend looking to capture their fourth-consecutive Western Athletic Conference regular-season title.
 
The second WAC Cluster is scheduled to take place this weekend in the Windy City, hosted by Chicago State. Heading into the weekend, the Aggies are 12-6 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
 
A pivotal match against UMKC on Friday, April 13, at 2 p.m. (MT) awaits NM State at the CSU Tennis Courts to open second WAC Cluster. The Roos, who upset the Aggies in the championship match last year, are also 3-0 in league play as the two teams jockey for the league title.
 
Airam Castellano paces UMKC with a 15-6 overall mark in singles and 9-5 record in dual play – all at the top singles slot. Alex Pozo and Tom Kruse are tied for the second-most singles wins on the team with a dozen wins apiece. Pozo plays at the No. 2 position while Kruse has played at the No. 3 slot. Diego Giraldo rounds out the double-digit wins list with an 11-8 overall mark, playing primarily at the No. 4 position. The No. 1 doubles team of Castellano and Pozo is 11-6 overall on the year while the No. 2 team is 7-7 overall.
 
The Aggies then take on Grand Canyon on Saturday, April 14, at 9 a.m. (MT) to close the regular-season. NM State's lone blemish during league play since 2015 have come at the hands of GCU back in 2016 at the NM State Tennis Center. The Lopes are 14-5 overall on the season and 2-1 in league play, falling to UMKC in their last WAC contest in Kansas City.
 
Lucas Grego (21-12) and Valentin Lang (21-10) lead the group of five GCU plays with double-digit singles victories. Lang has played most of his matches at the No. 3 singles slot while Lucas has been playing a majority of his contests at the No. 5 slot. Mathieu Rajaonah, GCU's top singles player, owns an 18-14 record while Lorenzo Fucile is next on the list of wins with a 16-15 mark with Freddie Grant rounding out the list with a 14-11 record. The Lopes' doubles No. 1 doubles pair is 13-11 on the season while their No. 3 doubles team of Grant and Grego own an 11-6 record.
 
NM State remains in Chicago and will wrap up its weekend with a 12:15 p.m. (MT) dual against DePaul on Sunday, April 15. The Blue Demons are 12-9 overall this season and 3-1 when playing at home. The Aggies took the last match against DePaul 4-2 at the HEB Tournament of Champions on neutral footing.
 
Boris Spanjaard leads the pack of DePaul players with 19 wins in singles action while Luuk Wassenaar and Tamas Zador each have 14 wins. Christopher Casati has 13 wins to his name and Tripp Tuff rounds out the list of double-digit wins with 12. The No. 3 doubles team of Conor O'Meara and Tuff lead the team with 12 wins.
 
Entering this weekend, reigning WAC Player of the Year Christofer Goncalves leads New Mexico State with a 22-7 record in singles play and 9-4 in dual action. Fellow senior Sergi Espias is right on his tails with a 21-7 record himself in singles. Enrique Asmar is just a win shy of joining his three teammates in the 20-win plateau.
 
Freshman Louis Menard is riding a nine-match win-streak into the weekend with a 17-4 overall record and 11-1 mark in dual action. Stijn de Haan has 13 wins to his name while Luis Flores rounds out the list of double-digit winners with 10 wins of his own.
 
Benitez and de Haan lead the way in doubles action with 18 wins together, mainly in the No. 2 position. NM State's top doubles team of Goncalves and Flores have 14 wins on the year.