SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. – The NM State men's and women's golf teams kicked off play at the NB3 Matchplay at Twin Warriors on Tuesday, playing 36 total holes of match play style competition. In total, the Aggies generated seven points across the men's and women's teams, including two from sophomore Mateo Payán, who earned dominant victories in both of his matches.
 
In the morning, the Aggie men matched up against Big Ten foe Oregon. Out of the gate, Anthony Lara, Mateo Payán and Max Chan set the tone with a combined seven holes won out of their first 15 combined holes. This momentum would continue for the trio of Aggies as Mateo Payán closed out his match against the Ducks' Casper Nerpin, winning handedly by a score of 7&6 without losing a single hole.
 
Meanwhile, Anthony Lara also controlled his match against Oregon's Oscar Lent as he built up a three-hole on his way to ultimately winning 2&1. Lastly, Max Chan would flash in his NB3 Matchplay debut by defeating Oregon's Hugh Adams 2&1, thanks to consistent play that included parring 11 of his first 12 holes. With contributions from Payán, Lara and Chan, the Aggies would go on to beat Oregon 3.0-2.0 to start the day on the right foot.
 
On the women's side, the Aggies would find themselves head-to-head with Big 12 powerhouse Arizona to open the day. While the Aggies showed fight, senior Emma Bunch would be the lone Aggie to tally any points as she defeated the Wildcats' Julia Misemer by a score of 4&3. Arizona would eventually edge out the Aggies 4.0-1.0 across the five matches.
 
The afternoon slate would include the Aggie men taking on UNLV in an ultracompetitive match that saw three of the five matches reach at least hole 17 before conclusion. Payán would continue his stellar day by defeating the Rebels' Wyatt Plattner 4&2 after immediately jumping out to a four-hole lead just five holes in the match. Ultimately, Payán would finish the day a combined 12-under despite playing just 28 holes before putting his matches to bed.
 
The Aggie men also received strong contributions from Ethan Klose, who fought back to take down UNLV's Billy Smith, winning 2&1 after finding himself trailing entering the eighth hole. Klose would close out the match on a high note, winning five of the final 10 holes to earn the point.
 
Anthony Lara also did his best to show resiliency as he was behind UNLV's Zach Little by two holes through seven, but birdies on eight and 10 and an eagle on 12 would propel him to a one-hole advantage. Two holes later, Lara would once again trail by one hole before recording an eagle on 16 to even things up going into the final two holes. Unfortunately, Little would prove to be big as he won the final two holes to earn the nod 2 UP.
 
Like Lara did in his match, Javier Delgadillo went shot-for-shot with UNLV's Trevor Lewis as the two would be all square entering the 16th hole after Lewis held a three-hole lead entering hole 11. However, Lewis would win two of the concluding four holes to earn the win.
 
Head Men's Golf Coach Mike Dirks on his team's performance
"The first two matches today proved to be a good day for us. We fought hard all day, stayed in the matches and halved with a 3-2 win versus Oregon and a close loss to UNLV. Mateo played awesome all day. We also had three players each win one of their two matches with Mateo sweeping his matches. It was nice to see our players compete from start to finish."
 
The women were pitted against fellow Aggies, Texas A&M in the afternoon and would hang tough against the SEC opponent. In total, three holes reached the 16^th hole or later, including matches featuring Alexandria Armendariz and Emma Bunch that both reached hole 18. Although, both matches that went the distance fell in favor of the Aggies of Texas A&M.
 
The women's afternoon was highlighted by a performance from true freshman and New Mexico native, Rylee Salome. In just her third event as a collegiate athlete, Salome showed why she belonged as she battled her way to a 3&2 victory over Texas A&M's Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio. After finishing the 10^th hole tied with the talented Aggie, Salome birdied holes 11 and 12 to take hold of a two-hole lead. She would then win the par-five 16^th hole to earn the full point for her squad.
 
Head Women's Golf Coach Danny Bowen on his team's performance
"I'm Proud of the girls' fight today. We had a couple big wins from Emma Bunch in round one and then Rylee in the afternoon. I'm so proud of our freshman for taking down one of the best players in the world in Cayetana. We also had a couple of others that were close to finishing out but just couldn't get over the hump.  Alex's match against Scarlett was tough to lose, but she gained some invaluable experience of controlling that match until the end against a top-75 player in the world. I'm looking forward to playing with some presence and passion tomorrow against our rivals."
 
Match One
Men | NM State 3.0, Oregon 2.0
Anthony Lara def. Oscar Lent 2&1
Max Chan def. Hugh Adams 2&1
Aiden Krafft def. Javier Delgadillo 4&3
Mateo Payán def. Casper Nerpin 7&6
Jay Gould-Healy def. Ethan Klose 3&2
 
Women | NM State 1.0, Arizona 4.0
Emma Bunch def. Julia Misemer 4&3
Nena Wongthanavimok def. Sophia Luna 5&4
Kinsley Ni def. Alexandria Armendariz 6&5
Charlotte Back def. Emma Thompson 3&2
Angela Arora def. Rylee Salome 3&2
 
Match Two
Men | NM State 2.0, UNLV 3.0
Zach Little def. Anthony Lara 2 UP
Ryan Abuan def. Max Chan 4&3
Mateo Payán def. Wyatt Plattner 4&2
Trevor Lewis def. Javier Delgadillo 2 UP
Ethan Klose def. Billy Smith 2&1
 
Women | NM State 1.0, Texas A&M 4.0
Natalie Yen def. Emma Bunch 1 UP
Vanessa Borovilos def. Isa Laulhé 5&4
Louise Reau def. Emma Thompson 7&6
Scarlett Schremmer def. Alexandria Armendariz 1 UP
Rylee Salome def. Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio 3&2
 
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For complete coverage of NM State Women's Golf, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWGolf), Instagram (@NMStateWGolf) and Facebook (NM State Women's Golf). You can also follow along with Aggie Women's Golf via NMStateSports.com.