Match Seventeen
NM State (3-13, 0-0 WAC) vs. Dixie State (2-12, 0-0 WAC)
Friday, April 1 | 9:00 a.m. MT | Seattle, Wash. | Championship Field Tennis Courts
Match Eighteen
NM State vs. Chicago State (6-12, 0-0 WAC)
Saturday, April 2 | 3:00 p.m. MT | Seattle, Wash. | Championship Field Tennis Courts
THE FIRST SERVE
• Back in conference play, the NM State women's tennis team is set for its first weekend of WAC competition as the Aggies travel to Seattle, Wash., to match wits against two other WAC West Division foes.
• NM State will take on Dixie State Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. MT from the Championship Field Tennis Courts on the campus of Seattle U before closing out its two-match weekend Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. MT against Chicago State at the same site.
• Though the Aggies played a trio of WAC Southwest Division teams last week, those matches did not count in the WAC standings for any of the teams competing. Only matches NM State plays against WAC West Division competition will count as league matches for the Aggies.
• NM State's top-flight doubles pairing of Chloe Gavino and Lisa Zhu have continued to excel. Despite seeing their four-match winning streak snapped Sunday at Abilene Christian, Gavino and Zhu still own the team's best doubles mark at 8-2. That gives them a little less than half of NM State's 17 total doubles wins in dual match action.
• Miranda Bishard and Bella Nguyen have been coming on strong in doubles play as of late, too. Winners of three of their last four matches, the Aggies' third-line tandem is 5-3 in 2022.
• In addition to her doubles prowess, Zhu has also excelled in singles play in her first season as a collegian. The Beijing, China, product is riding a five-match winning streak in one-on-one action and has posted a 9-4 mark on the season. Those nine wins are the most on the team and make up over one-third of the team's 26 total singles wins in dual match play.
• Five of NM State's last seven regular-season matchups with current WAC teams have gone down to the wire and ended in scored of 4-3. NM State is 2-3 in those matches.
SCOUTING DIXIE STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Hoping to pick up their first victory against an NCAA Division I club in 2022, the Trailblazers head to the Pacific Northwest in search of their first victory over NM State since joining the WAC, too.
• Riding a four-match winning streak in singles action, Rachel Mellor has evened her 2022 record at 5-5, giving her the most one-on-one victories on the team.
• Two other Dixie State players - Juliana Honczaruk (4-9) and Sabrina Longson (4-8) - both have four singles wins to their credit. They have helped the Trailblazers put up a 19-59 mark in one-on-one action through their dual matches in 2022.
• The only Dixie State doubles team in possession of a record above the .500 mark in 2022 is that of Alexandra Hildreth and Ya-Chi Hsu. Their 4-3 record includes a 4-2 showing on line two tandem tilts.
SCOUTING CHICAGO STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• A four-match losing skid is what Chicago State is hoping to stop when it takes on NM State in Seattle, Wash., Saturday afternoon.
• Nearly one-quarter of the Cougars' singles wins have come off the racquet of Katarina Dukic. Her one-on-one mark sits at 9-4 and includes a perfect 4-0 showing in flight five fights.
• Dukic is one of just two Chicago State players who possess records at or above the .500 mark. The other is Kristina Pukhaeva who has constructed a mark of 8-8. Ten of her 16 singles bouts have taken place on line two where she has gone 5-5.
• Doubles play has been a mixed bag for Chicago State who has made us of 14 different pairings through its 18 dual matches in 2022. None of those tandems has more wins than that of Cali Fuller and Sofiya Sedovich (3-4) while the Cougars have gone 16-31 (.340) in tandem showdowns as a whole this year.
• Chicago State is 1-4 against NM State in the previous five matchups between the two programs.
COMING UP NEXT
• NM State steps out of WAC competition during a two-match swing in the Lone Star State. The Aggies will travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a non-conference tilt at UTSA on Friday, April 8, before closing out their two-match non-league stretch at UTEP on Sunday, April 10.
++NM State++
