Match Fifteen
NM State (4-10) vs. Northern Arizona (8-4)
Friday, April 9 | 10:00 a.m. | NM State Tennis Center | Las Cruces, N.M.
Match Sixteen
NM State vs. UTEP
Sunday, April 11 | Noon | NM State Tennis Center | Las Cruces, N.M.
THE FIRST SERVE
• For the first time in 405 days, the NM State women's tennis team will play a home match at the NM State Tennis Center. As a matter of fact, the Aggies' final four matches of their 2021 regular season will be played at their home venue and that stretch begins Friday morning when Northern Arizona makes the trip to Las Cruces, N.M., for a 10:00 a.m. match.
• NM State's two-match home weekend continues Sunday at noon when the Aggies host Texas adversary UTEP.
• The Aggies are in search of their first victory over Northern Arizona since 2014. That year, NM State took down their foes from Arizona 5-2 in Las Cruces. Since then, the Lumberjacks have won three consecutive matches.
• Against UTEP, the Aggies have won three-straight matches dating back to the spring of 2017.
• Sophomore Chloe Gavino is hoping to keep her singles success going after winning all three of her one-on-one bouts last week. During the Aggies' 1-2 stretch last week, Gavino secured a trio of wins against her counterparts from Arizona, Dixie State and Tarleton while playing in flight two. Those three wins have pushed her singles record to 6-8.
• Gavi Kalaga will hope to add some more victories to her team-leading singles win total this weekend in Las Cruces. The junior has captured a squad-high eight singles victories and has teamed with Harsha Challa in doubles action to go 6-4.
• Challa and Kalaga have posted six of the Aggies' 11 doubles wins this season and have won their last two tilts.
• Since the start of the 2018-19 academic year, NM State has gone 6-1 in dual matches played at the NM State Tennis Center. That mark includes a 4-0 home record in the spring of 2019.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Winners of their last two matches and six of their last seven outings, the Lumberjacks roll into Las Cruces armed with an 8-4 record which includes a 2-4 showing in true road matches.
• A pair of Northern Arizona players - Gina Dittmann and Mimi Bland - have made sure the Lumberjacks have had the upper hand in singles action. Dittman's team-best 11-1 record in singles bouts this season features a a 10-1 showing on line one and Dittman's current singles winning streak stands at nine matches.
• Bland has put forth a 10-2 singles record in 2021, and plays predominantly on line three. It is there where Bland had gone 10-1 and she has also won each of her last eight matches. She and Dittmann have combined to produce 21 of the Lumberjacks' 45 singles wins and as a team Northern Arizona is 45-23 (.662) in one-on-one play this season.
• Dittman and teammate Elinor Beazley are currently serving as Northern Arizona's best doubles tandem. Their 6-5 record in tandem action is spread across lines two and three and together they have recorded nearly half of the Lumberjacks' 14 doubles victories.
• Northern Arizona is 2-0 against WAC foes this year after posting a pair of 7-0 victories over Dixie State to begin the 2021 campaign.
SCOUTING UTEP | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• UTEP caps off a stretch of three matches in three days by traveling to Las Cruces to take on the Aggies Sunday afternoon. The Miners played just three matches in the month of March, going 1-2 in those showdowns to push their record to 2-5 overall.
• Erandi Martinez is the Miners' singles wins leader, owning a 5-1 record in one-on-one play. In her five matches in flight two, Martinez has put up a 4-1 mark and has won back-to-back bouts.
• The only other Miners who have records of .500 or better in singles action are Veronika Lebisova (3-3) and Lina Sachica (2-2).
• Exactly half of UTEP's eight doubles wins in 2021 have come courtesy of the Thassane Abrahim/Veronika Lebisova duo. That pairing has put up a 4-1 record while playing on lines one and two and as a team UTEP owns a doubles mark of 8-12 (.400).
COMING UP NEXT
• The final two regular season matches on the Aggies' docket will take place at the NM State Tennis Center. NM State is set to host WAC foes Chicago State and Grand Canyon in Las Cruces next weekend and the Aggies' final weekend of regular season league competition begins Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. when the Aggies tangle with Chicago State.
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