LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Harsha Challa and Lisa Zhu teamed up for a top-flight doubles win, but that was the only win the NM State women's tennis team generated Monday evening in a 7-0 setback to Pac-12 foe Arizona at the NM State Tennis Complex.

The Aggies slipped to 0-5 with the loss while Arizona moved to 2-0.

DOUBLES
• NM State's tandem performance as a whole was highlighted by Challa and Zhu in top-flight play. That Aggie duo started fast and secured a 6-4 victory over the Wildcats' pairing of Midori Castillo-Meza and Salma Ziouti. It marked the first time Challa and Zhu had teamed together in doubles play during the spring season.
• The second NM State tandem who started strong was that of Chloe Gavino and Natsuki Nishimura on line two. They grabbed an early lead against Arizona's tandem of Parker Fry and Kayla Wilkins but eventually fell by a 6-3 tally.
• Gavi Kalaga and Miranda Bishard took the court for NM State in flight three and fell by a 6-2 score in their matchup with Lexi Ryngler and Belen Nevenhoven.

SINGLES
• Arizona extended its lead to 2-0 after Melissa Cartis was able to take just two games off of Nevenhoven in a 6-0, 6-2 loss. The match was Cartis' first of 2022 and came on line six.
• NM State's back went against the wall further when Gavino dropped a 6-1, 6-1 showdown with Ziouti on line two.
• Though Arizona clinched the win after Zhu wound up on the wrong end of a 6-3, 6-1 result against Lexi Ryngler in flight three, the teams played the rest of the match out.
• Nishimura improved set-by-set when taking on Castillo-Meza in fourth-flight play. NM State's newest player fell 6-2, 6-3.
• Kalaga doubled the number of games she won from set one to set two in a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Fry on line number five.
• Challa nearly secured her second singles win of 2022 in a heated three-set battle with Kayla Wilkins in top-flight action. NM State's top line performer took set one by a 7-6 tally before Wilkins forced a third frame with a 7-6 win of her own. Once in the decisive frame, Wilkins doubled up Challa, 10-5, to finish the Wildcats' shutout win.

COMING UP NEXT
• A trip to Big 12 country is in order for for the Aggies as they brace for two matches in the same day. NM State will head to Norman, Okla., for two dual matches with Oklahoma on Saturday. The Aggies and Sooners will play at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. that day.

++NM State++