EL PASO, Texas – The Aggies found success on the opening day of action in the Sun City as they took on the field at the UTEP Invitational at the El Paso Tennis Club.
 
To start the day, a pair of Aggie duos picked up wins in doubles play as NM State participated in three doubles matches on Friday. Natsuki Nishimura and Anna Pinaieva teamed up to defeat the UNM duo of Jhang and Hoppe, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Valeriia Ivanovskaia and Lisa Zhu continued their strong fall season as they defeated Huang and Vandeputte of New Mexico by a score of 7-6.
 
Once play rolled over to the singles portion of the day, another three Aggies found success as Lisa Zhu, Valeriia Ivanovskaia and Whitney Moon earned their first singles wins of the weekend. Zhu's victory came in a match against New Mexico's Hoppe – defeating the Lobo 6-4, 7-6.
 
Elsewhere, Zhu's doubles teammate Ivanovskaia also managed her second win of the day as she bested UNM's Vandeputte, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4.
 
Moon also notched a tally in the win column as she earned a come-from-behind win over UNM's Sodre – defeating her 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
 
The Aggies will now return to action on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
 
DOUBLES
(NMSU) Nishimura/Pinaieva def. (UNM) Jhang/Hoppe 6-3
(NMSU) Ivanovskaia/Zhu def. Huang/M. Vandeputte 7-6
(UNM) B. Vandeputte/Sodre def. (NMSU) Kurdi/Moon 6-4
 
SINGLES
(UNM) Jhang def. (NMSU) Pinaieva 6-4, 6-3
(NMSU) Zhu def. (UNM) Hoppe 6-4, 7-6
(UNM) Huang def. (NMSU) Nishimura 6-2, 7-6
(NMSU) Ivanovskaia def. (UNM) M. Vandeputte 6-3, 0-6, 6-4
(UNM) B. Vandeputte def. (NMSU) Kurdi 6-0, 6-3
(NMSU) Moon def. (UNM) Sodre 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
(UNM) Taborga def. (NMSU) Nikolaeva 6-3, 6-1