THE FIRST SERVE
• On the heels of a spring season that saw the Aggies capture the program's third WAC Tournament title and a bid into the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Tournament, the Aggies will open the season in Colorado at the ITA Bedford Cup in the Mountains.
• The four-day event is set to begin at 4 p.m. MT on Sept. 15, while matches the remainder of the weekend will get underway at 9 a.m.
 
THE FIELD
• In addition to NM State and host Air Force, competitors from eight other institutions will be on the grounds to take part in play this weekend. Boise State, Brigham Young, Colorado State, Denver, Idaho, Idaho State, Weber State and Utah State will each have student-athletes competing.
 
THE DOUBLES DRAWS
• With all eight players on the roster competing, the Aggies will send three doubles teams to the courts on Thursday afternoon while the fourth tandem will await a matchup during Friday's slate.
• Freshman Anna Pinaieva will make her collegiate debut alongside second-year Aggie Lisa Zhu in the Alpha draw when the pair take on the team of Madison Smith and Tina Li of BYU.
• The Bravo Doubles draw will feature two Aggie teams as freshman Dora Kurdi will join forces with Natsuki Nishimura to face Idaho's tandem of Rachelle Starreveld and Valentina Rodas Carcamo.
• Miranda Bishard and Bella Nguyen will team up once again after combining for an 11-8 record in doubles play last season. The duo will see Nicole Discenza and Ryan Kershner in their opening match.
• Meanwhile, the twosome of Melissa Cartis and Georgia Townsend will receive a bye on Thursday before they take on the winner of Utah State's Jade Brilhante and Laura Fernanda Eugenio De Hilario and Air Force's Shailla Alda and Abby Cotuna on Friday at 9 a.m.
 
THE SINGLES DRAWS
• In singles action, both Pinaieva and Zhu will partake in the Alpha draw beginning Friday morning at 10:15 a.m. Pinaieva will encounter BYU's Emmie Moore while Zhu will face off with Taylor Melville of Denver.
• Nishimura will be the lone singles player to represent the Aggies in the Bravo draw with her match against Boise State's Ana Conde Vendrell set to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday.
• Bishard's weekend of singles action will commence with a contest versus Utah State's Zeynep Naz Ozturk in the Charlie draw at 9 a.m. on Friday.
• Nguyen will join Bishard's draw as she clashes with Kaleigh Yun-Thayer of Air Force in the opening round.
• The Aggies' Townsend is set to open her singles action this fall with a first-round matchup against Weber State's Kenadee Semenik in the Delta Singles draw on Friday morning.
• In the same 16-person bracket as Townsend will be NM State's Kurdi. Kurdi will take on Colorado State's Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya at 9 a.m. on Friday.
• Lastly, Cartis will compete in the Echo Singles draw with her first singles match of the fall coming against Idaho's Saffron Dowse.
 
COMING UP NEXT
• The Bedford Cup will register as the Aggies' lone competition in the month of September as Head Coach Emily Wang and her crew are off for nearly one month before returning to the courts for competition. Next, the Aggies will head to Las Vegas for the ITA Mountain Regional hosted by UNLV. The four-day regional is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 13-16 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.
• For complete coverage of NM State women's tennis, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Women's Tennis), Twitter (@NMStateWTEN) and Instagram (@NMStateWTEN).