PHOENIX - Bella Nguyen did it again.
After watching its 3-1 lead evaporate, the NM State women's tennis team turned to Nguyen for the second-straight time in WAC play and the Aggies' sophomore stepped up again by claiming a three-set win which lifted her team to a 4-3 league win over Seattle U Friday evening at the GCU Tennis Center.
With the win, NM State pushed its record to 7-14 and 3-0 in WAC play. The Aggies are now tied atop the league's West Division standings with Grand Canyon - the team who they face off against Saturday morning.
DOUBLES
• If the first doubles match was any indication, NM State would have little trouble with Seattle U. Miranda Bishard and Bella Nguyen joined forces and posted a 6-1 victory over Jade Quintana and Aranza Sanabria in third-flight action.
• The Redhawks, though, made sure nothing else came as easy for the Aggies as their third-flight doubles win. Gavi Kalaga and Natsuki Nishimura were out-dueled down the stretch by Mireia Fehr and Jade Lancaster, falling 7-5 to knot up the doubles point at 1-1.
• Top-flight action could have gone either was in a hard-fought matchup between Chloe Gavino and Lisa Zhu and Liliya Dimova and Elena Kraleva. Coming down to the wire, it was the Redhawks' duo which made the right moves late to take a 7-6 (2) decision. That loss suffered by Gavino and Zhu was the first WAC setback by the tandem and also put the Aggies at a 1-0 disadvantage in the match.
SINGLES
• Despite dropping the doubles point, NM State quickly regained the upper hand once one-on-one play commenced. Bishard busted up Lancaster by a 6-0, 6-2 score down on line six, pushing her winning streak in singles action to two matches and knotting the match at 1-1.
• Like Bishard, Nishimura surrendered just a pair of games in her third-flight showdown with Quintana. Nishimura pushed the Aggies ahead by a 2-1 score thanks to a 6-1, 6-1 win on line three.
• Putting the Aggies on the cusp of victory, Kalaga moved to 3-0 in WAC play on the year with a 6-1, 6-3 fourth-flight triumph against Grossman.
• Armed with a 3-1 lead and needing just a single point to lock up the win, the Aggies found that clinching win difficult to come by as the Redhawks made a push for the win. Zhu suffered her third setback in her last four outings, dropping a 6-3, 6-0 matchup with Dimova in flight two play.
• With their lead down to 3-2, the Aggies looked to be in line for the win after Gavino's strong start in top-flight play. The junior jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead against Fehr on line one, but the Redhawks' top-flight performer battled back and tied the match at 3-3 by posting an 0-6, 6-0, 7-5 win.
• Once again, that put Nguyen's matchup in the spotlight. For the second time in as many WAC matches, though, she came through for her team by giving the Aggies a dramatic win thanks to a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win over Sanabria.
COMING UP NEXT
• With a spot in the 2022 WAC Tournament already sewed up, NM State prepares for a championship match Saturday morning at the GCU Tennis Center. At 11:00 a.m. MT, NM State and GCU are set to duke it out for the outright WAC West Division crown. Both the Aggies and Lopes are tied atop the West Division standings with 3-0 marks in league action.
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