Box Score

STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Down 3-1 with three singles matches to go, the NM State women's tennis team battled back to tie things up at 3-3, but Tarleton's victory on line three of singles action proved to be the difference as the Aggies fell to the Texans by a 4-3 tally Saturday afternoon at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Center.

The loss snapped NM State's two-match winning streak and dropped the Aggies' record to 3-12 and 1-1 in WAC action.

DOUBLES
• Chloe Gavino and Lisa Zhu helped NM State set the tone early on in tandem action, scoring a 6-2, victory over the Texans' top-flight tandem of Martha Makantasi and Deniza Marcinkevica. That victory pushed their record to 8-1 and 2-0 in WAC action.
• Tarleton managed to battle back with a 6-2 win in flight three, putting the focus squarely on the second-line tandem bout.
• Gavi Kalaga and Natsuki Nishimura battled valiantly, but dropped a hard-fought match to Elsa Boisson and Jemelith Aguilar. The Texans' tandem got the upper hand down the stretch in a 7-6 (6-4) win, putting the Aggies at a 1-0 disadvantage with singles play on deck.

SINGLES
• Tarleton's lead grew to 2-0 following Bella Nguyen's 6-2, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Celia Vaudiau in flight five action.
• Needing to gather some momentum of their own, the Aggies turned to Kalaga on line four. She cut the Texans' edge to 2-1 by way of a 6-2, 7-6 triumph over Boisson.
• Up on line one, though, Tarleton found itself able to push its lead back to two once again. Gavino started strong, but could not hang on in a 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 loss to Marcenkevica which put the Aggies in a 3-1 hole.
• NM State never stopped battling, as evident by Miranda Bishard's 6-2, 7-5 victory over Anna Hosking down on line six. That win trimmed Tarleton's lead to 3-2 with two matches still going on.
• Zhu didn't give up after dropping her opening set against Aguilar in flight two action. NM State's freshman won the final two frames to lock up a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 come-from-behind win which knotted the league match at 3-3.
• Unfortunately, the Aggies found themselves unable to complete their comeback. Nishimura grabbed an early lead on line three in her matchup with Makantasi, but Tarleton's player pushed ahead at the end. The Texans won the match thanks to Makantasi's 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

COMING UP NEXT
• NM State makes the 94-mile journey from Stephenville, Texas, to Abilene, Texas, to close out its three-match weekend. The Aggies take on WAC foe Abilene Christian Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. MT from the John T.L. Lewis Tennis Building.

++NM State++