KANSAS CITY – The New Mexico State men's tennis team wrapped up Western Athletic Conference play on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Chicago State in a neutral site match.
 
Once again, the Aggies trailed after doubles play as Chicago State (2-18, 0-4 WAC) stole the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles
 
However, NM State (9-9, 4-1 WAC) was able to battle back in singles action to clinch the match just like last Friday.
 
Christofer Goncalves led the Aggies' rally in singles play with a 6-1, 6-3 win over the Cougar's Gabriel Niculescu. The win gave Goncalves his 20th singles victory of the season and 10th win in dual play. The sophomore has now won seven-straight matches in dual action.
 
Felix Savard gave Chicago State the 2-1 lead after downing Strahinja Trecakov at the top singles position.
 
But, the Aggies responded with three-straight victories to clinch the match.
 
Senior Liam Goldberg was the first of three to finish, claiming a 6-3, 6-5 victory over Rohan Wattley at the No. 3 singles position. Freshman Mauri Benitez had to earn his win on court No. 2, after dropping his first set 6-1. The freshman then reeled off wins in the next two sets 6-2, 6-0 to put NM State on top 3-2.
 
Stijn de Haan was tested early on by CSU's Christian Gonzalez, consistently, as the freshman dropped his first set 7-5 before taking the second set 7-5 himself. Heading into the third set tiebreaker, de Haan cruised past Gonzalez with a 10-1 victory to clinch the winner.
 
The Aggies won by default on No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to Chicago State not having players.
 
Sitting at 4-1, the Aggies now wait and see where they place in the regular-season. Grand Canyon, who is currently 3-0 in WAC play with two matches remaining.
 
NM State now returns home to the friendly confines of the NMSU Tennis Center where they'll play Western New Mexico at 10 a.m. (PT)