Match Seventeen
NM State (4-12, 3-1 WAC) vs. Chicago State (3-10, 1-3 WAC)
Friday, April 16 | 9:00 a.m. | Las Cruces, N.M. | NM State Tennis Center
Match Eighteen
NM State vs. Grand Canyon
Sunday, April 18 | 9:00 a.m. | Las Cruces, N.M. | NM State Tennis Center
THE FIRST SERVE
• Continuing their four-match home stand to wrap up the regular season, the NM State tennis team prepares for its final two Western Athletic Conference matches of 2021.
• This weekend at the NM State Tennis Complex, the Aggies are set to take on Chicago State and Grand Canyon. NM State's two-match stretch begins Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. when it takes on Chicago State and Sunday at 9:00 a.m. the Aggies and Lopes will duke it out.
• NM State currently sits in second place in the league standings, just one match behind league-leading Grand Canyon. Should the Aggies defeat Chicago State Friday morning, that will set up a showdown with the Lopes which could result in a share of the WAC's regular-season crown for NM State.
• Tuesday morning, junior Gavi Kalaga was named the WAC's Women's Tennis Singles Athlete of the Week. Kalaga added to her team-leading singles win total by going 1-0 in her two singles bouts last week. Currently, Kalaga owns a 9-5 record in one-on-one matches which includes a 3-1 showing against WAC competition.
• Harsha Challa and Kalaga claimed the honor of WAC Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week Tuesday morning, too, after adding to their team-leading doubles win total last week. Challa and Kalaga went 1-0 in doubles action through the Aggies' first two home matches of 2021, improving their record to 7-4 in tandem play. All but five of NM State's 12 doubles wins have come from the duo of Challa and Kalaga who are 3-1 in WAC doubles tilts.
• The duo of Miranda Bishard and Lucija Josipovic are also 3-1 in WAC doubles matches. Bishard is also the owner of a 3-1 record against WAC foes in singles play as are Challa and Chloe Gavino.
• NM State is going in search of its first home wins of 2021.
• The Aggies dropped their last match against Chicago State by a 6-1 score on Saturday, April 6, 2019. NM State's last showdown with Grand Canyon came in the 2019 WAC Tournament title match - a 4-3 Aggie victory which send NM State to the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING CHICAGO STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Two of the Cougars' three wins in 2021 have come in their last four matches and Chicago State head to Las Cruces in search of its second and third WAC wins of the year.
• Katarina Drazic and Kristina Pukhaeva have proven to be a formidable doubles team for Chicago State. That pairing has gone 6-3 this year which includes a 3-1 showing against WAC doubles teams. Drazic and Pukhaeva have won each of their last four doubles bouts, too.
• Chicago State's 19 singles wins have been spread out fairly evenly amongst a group of five players. Leading the way is Sofia Sedovich who has gone 5-6 in one-on-one action. Two of those wins have come against WAC foes.
• Another four singles wins each have been compiled by Drazic and Katarina Dukic. The latter is 2-1 against WAC opponents and has emerged as the victor in each of her last two matches.
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Armed with a seven-match winning streak, the Lopes eye sole possession of the 2021 WAC regular season title when they head to Las Cruces this weekend.
• Grand Canyon hasn't dropped a match since Monday, March 8 and has secured all four of their WAC victories since then, too. In addition to their four WAC triumphs, the Lopes have picked up victories against Colorado State and Idaho State (twice).
• Natasha Puehse and Jana Weiss enter this weekend's fray with identical 11-4 singles records to their credit. A third member of Grand Canyon's squad - Emilia Occhipinti - has won double-digit singles matches, too, and owns a 10-5 mark in one-on-one play.
• Puehse and Occhipinti are riding eight-match singles winning streaks while Weiss has won seven straight. Against WAC opponents, GCU's lineup is an impressive 23-1 (.958) this year.
• The Lopes have experienced similar success in WAC doubles action. Occhipinti and Autumn Prudhomme are 10-4 in doubles action while Taylor Andersen and Joely Lomas own a doubles mark of 10-5. Both of those pairings have won their last eight bouts.
COMING UP NEXT
• Hosting duties for the 2021 WAC Women's Tennis Tournament will fall on the Aggies, and it's their hope that after this weekend's matches they'll be one of the top two seeds. The NM State Tennis Center is set to welcome all seven WAC women's tennis squads for the three-day tournament which begins Friday, April 30.
++NM State++
