Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a couple of weekends away from home, the Aggie women's tennis team returned to the NM State Tennis Center to host matches on Friday and Saturday. After falling 4-3 to LA Tech in their first Conference USA match of the season, the Aggies regained their footing to defeat former WAC foe Abilene Christian 5-2 on Saturday evening.
 
MATCH ONE | LA Tech 4, NM State 3
The Aggies started their weekend strong – earning the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Whitney Moon and Lisa Zhu continued their strong play as they earned their third consecutive win by knocking off the Bulldogs' Zoie Epps and Ana Rodrigues, 6-2. Then, after falling at No. 1, Dora Kurdi and Valeriia Ivanovskaia joined forces to earn a 6-4 victory over Tiffani Nash and Valentina Vasquez – giving the Aggies the advantage entering singles play.
 
The Aggies' one point lead quickly disappeared as the match at No. 5 fell in favor of the visitors. Lisa Zhu then handled business at No. 3 to move the Aggies back in front before the see-saw match continued as LA Tech claimed victory at No. 4. Later, Anna Pinaieva would tally her team-leading fifth singles win of the season in her first appearance on the No. 2 line of the year. Unfortunately, Pinaieva's win would be the final point for the Aggies as the remaining two courts went to the Bulldogs.
 
MATCH TWO | NM State 5, Abilene Christian 2
As they did on Friday, the Aggies began on the right foot as they waltzed their way to a point via doubles play. The Aggies reached two wins in doubles action thanks to the play of Aggies on lines one and three. First, Whitney Moon and Lisa Zhu proved their worth at No. 3 – defeating their Wildcat counterparts 6-1. Then, Natsuki Nishimura and Anna Pinaieva battled their way to a hard-fought win at No. 1 – claiming victory by a score of 7-5.
 
With the doubles point in hand, the Aggies were in search of just three wins in singles action. Ultimately, they came away with four as NM State players came out on top at No. 1, No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6. Initially, the match felt very similar to Friday's match as Anna Pinaieva was the lone Aggie to earn a win among the first three matches that were clinched. On Saturday, Pinaieva added to her season win total with a 6-1, 6-2 win over ACU's Maryjoe Croisologo at No. 2.
 
After dropping the singles match at No. 3, Whitney Moon began the Aggie turnaround with a three-set victory at No. 6 where she won 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Moments later, Valeriia Ivanovskaia also notched a win in three sets as her 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 win at No. 5 clinched the match for the Aggies. Lastly, Natsuki Nishimura earned at win at No. 1 where she appeared for just the second time this season. The win also came in three-set fashion as she bounced back from a 7-5 loss in set one to win 6-4 in set two before earning a 10-4 win in the tiebreaker.
 
UP NEXT
This Sunday, the Aggies will return to the courts as they travel north to take on I-25 rival New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. There, NM State will be looking to snap a three-match losing streak to its in-state rivals and will be seeking its first win in Albuquerque since 2011.
 
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