Women's Tennis | Saturday 03/24/2018

EDINBURG, Texas – Las Cruces native Lindsay Harlas lifted the New Mexico State women's tennis team past Chicago State in a tightly contested 4-3 victory late Saturday morning at the Orville Cox Tennis Center to open Western Athletic Conference play. Saturday's win also gave first-year head coach Emily Wang her first conference win.
 
The match didn't start the way NM State (6-10, 1-0 WAC) had planned. Despite Lindsay Harlas and Rebecca Keijzerwaard's victory at No. 1 doubles, the Aggies saw their doubles teams on courts No. 3 and No. 2 fall in succession and gave the Cougars (4-15) an early 1-0 lead.
 
Playing at the top singles slot, Keijzewaard cruised past her counterpart 6-2, 6-3 to tie the match at 1-1. Freshman Quinty Janssen followed up for NM State's first lead, 2-1, when she bested Lorea Gamboa 6-2, 6-3 on court No. 3.
 
However, Alana Andrews tied things up for Chicago State when she defeated Helena Colvee at No. 6 singles 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Yadira Rubio regained the NM State lead, 3-2, after her battling back in the second set to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 4 singles slot, but it didn't last song with Katarina Drazic taking down Eli Arnaudova in another tooth-and-nail match 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 on court No. 5.
 
Ahead one set to none, Harlas saw Anastasii Gonchoarova battle back to take the second set 6-4 to set up the dramatic finish. The third and final set went back-and-forth early on and was tied 3-3 before Harlas pulled away for the 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory to clinch the match.
 
New Mexico State remains in Edinburg for another match on Sunday, March 25, to wrap up the first WAC cluster with an 8 a.m. (MT) match against Grand Canyon.
 
New Mexico State vs Chicago State
Mar 24, 2018 at Edinburg, TX
(Orville Cox Tennis Center)
 New Mexico State 4, Chicago State 3
 
Singles competition
1. Keizerward, Rebecca (NMSU) def. Kostyuk, Mariya (CSUW) 6-2, 6-3
2. Harlas, Lindsay (NMSU) def. Goncharova,Anastasii (CSUW) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
3. Janssen, Quinty (NMSU) def. Gamboa, Lorea (CSUW) 6-2, 6-3
4. Rubio, Yadira (NMSU) def. Gadacz, Leshia (CSUW) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
5. Drazic, Katarina (CSUW) def. Arnaudova, Eli (NMSU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
6. Andrews, Alana (CSUW) def. Colvee, Helena (NMSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
 
 Doubles competition
1. Harlas, Lindsay/Keizerward, Rebecca (NMSU) def. Kostyuk, Mariya/Drazic, Katarina (CSUW) 6-2
2. Gamboa, Lorea/Gadacz, Leshia (CSUW) def. Rubio, Yadira/Janssen, Quinty (NMSU) 6-4
3. Goncharova,Anastasii/Andrews, Alana (CSUW) def. Arnaudova, Eli/Colvee, Helena (NMSU) 6-3
 
Match Notes:
New Mexico State 6-10, 1-0 WAC
Chicago State 4-15, 0-2 WAC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,3,6,4,5,2)