LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After earning their first Conference USA victory last Friday, the Aggies hit the road for a trio of matches, including two against CUSA opponents. To open, NM State earned its second consecutive CUSA win as it defeated Sam Houston 4-0 on Thursday in Huntsville, Texas. The Aggies then dropped a match at Jax State – losing 4-2. Lastly, NM State concluded the road trip at UTSA. Ultimately, the Roadrunners defeated the Aggies 5-2 to put the Aggies at 5-12 on the season and 2-2 in conference play.
 
MATCH ONE | NM State 4, Sam Houston 0
In its second road CUSA match of the year, the Aggies made a statement and that began with a strong showing in doubles action. First, Valeriia Ivanovskaia and Natsuki Nishimura combined to take down the Bearkats' Vianne Schwab and Roberta Sechi – winning 6-2. Then the duo of Whitney Moon and Lisa Zhu teamed up to earn a 6-3 win over India Fenieys and Linn Svaerd.
 
The Aggies then carried this momentum over to singles play as Zhu opened things up with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sechi at No. 3. Zhu's win coupled with a win by retirement at No. 6 put the Aggies just one point away from the clean sweep. Anna Pinaieva then sealed the deal as she tallied a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Megan Basson at No. 1.
 
MATCH TWO | NM State 2, Jax State 4
In their second match in as many days, NM State showed no signs of fatigue early on as they once again claimed the doubles point. As they did on Thursday, the Aggies picked up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 as Ivanovskaia and Nishimura teamed up to win 6-4 and Moon and Zhu joined together to win 6-3.
 
Unfortunately, the Aggies were unable to use this advantage as JSU quickly erased the deficit with a win at No. 5. Later, Lisa Zhu secured a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 3 to put the Aggies back in the driver's seat. However, this would be the Aggies' final singles win as the Gamecocks brought in wins at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 to earn the match victory.
 
MATCH THREE | NM State 2, UTSA 5
On Sunday, the Aggies traveled to San Antonio to take on UTSA who claimed the doubles point despite the duo of Moon and Zhu moving to 3-0 on the weekend. The Roadrunners quickly clinched the match as they went on to earn singles wins at No. 5, No. 4 and No. 1 with no response from NM State – allowing the home side to clinch the match.
 
The Aggies did show some fight as Whitney managed the Moon managed the Aggies first point of the day with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win over Magda Tuells at No. 6. Later, Anna Pinaieva also secured a three-set win over her UTSA counterpart – defeating Aleksandra Zlatarova 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
 
UP NEXT
NM State will now prepare for its final week of regular season action as they are set to host Liberty on Saturday, April 13, before traveling to take on I-10 rival UTEP on Sunday, April 14. The Aggies' home match against the Flames will also be Senior Day and is set to begin at approximately 10 a.m. MT.
 
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