Complete WAC Release
DENVER - Following a second-straight appearance in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament championship match, the NM State women's tennis team saw a few of its members collect some postseason accolades.
In an release made public by the WAC Thursday morning, NM State singles players Chloe Gavino and Bella Nguyen as well as the Aggie doubles team of Harsha Challa and Gavi Kalaga earned spots on the WAC All-Tournament Team.
Both Gavino and Nguyen went 1-0 in singles action during WAC Tournament play this past weekend in Las Cruces. On line two, Gavino secured a 6-1, 6-2 victory over UTRGV's Katarina Sasaroga to help the second-seeded Aggies pick up a 4-1 win over the third-seeded Vaqueros in one of the league's two tournament semifinal matches. The following day, Gavino won the first set against GCU's Emilia Occhipinti and was locked in a 6-2, 5-3 battle with the Lopes' second-flight player when the match came to an end. Gavino wrapped up her 2021 campaign with a 9-10 record, including a 4-2 showing against WAC adversaries.
Against UTRGV, Nguyen helped lead NM State to victory thanks to her 6-1, 6-3 win against Ana Platisa in flight five singles action. Sunday afternoon, Nguyen had GCU's Autumn Prudhomme on the ropes on line five by leading the Lopes' player 6-3, 5-4 at the time the match was called. For the year, Nguyen went 8-11 in singles play which featured a 3-3 showing against WAC opponents in the regular season.
NM State's top-flight doubles pairing, Challa and Kalaga posted a 1-0 record in WAC Tournament action to improve to 9-5 in 2021. They turned in a flawless 6-0 win against the UTRGV tandem of Isabelle Bahr and Sasaroga in top-flight singles play, helping NM State win the doubles point in its semifinal matchup. Dueling with GCU's Natasha Puehse and Jana Weiss during Sunday morning's championship match, the Aggie duo found themselves tied 3-3 at the time the doubles point was clinched by the Lopes.
NM State wrapped up its 2021 season last Sunday (May 2) at the NM State Tennis Center with a 4-0 setback to top-seeded Grand Canyon in the championship match of the 2021 WAC Tournament. The Aggies finished their latest season with a 6-14 mark which included a 4-2 showing against WAC opponents.
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