SEATTLE - Bella Nguyen, take a bow.
With things knotted at 3-3 between NM State and Chicago State, Nguyen made sure the Aggies wouldn't suffer their first league setback of 2022 by coming up with a match-clinching 6-3, 6-4 win on line five to push her team to a 4-3 victory over the Cougars Saturday evening at the Championship Field Tennis Courts on the campus of Seattle U.
The win, NM State's second in a row, hiked the Aggies' 2022 mark to 5-13 and a perfect 2-0 in WAC action.
DOUBLES
• Unlike their first WAC match of 2022, the Aggies found themselves playing from behind after Chicago State captured the doubles point. Gavi Kalaga and Natsuki Nishimura couldn't get much of anything going on flight two, dropping a 6-1 decision to Katarina Dukic and and Kristina Pukhaeva.
• NM State tied things up thanks to some strong top-flight play. Chloe Gavino and Lisa Zhu moved to 10-2 on the year by posting a 6-2 victory over Katarina Drazic and Lizi Morgoshia.
• Chicago State took its only lead of the match thanks to Diana Borodina and Sofiya Sedovich's 6-3 win over Miranda Bishard and Nguyen down on line three.
SINGLES
• The Cougars' slim lead didn't last too long once singles play commenced. Nishimura knotted things quickly on line three by earning a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Borodina.
• Gavino broke the 1-1 deadlock up in top-flight play. The junior worked her way past Drazic by a 6-4, 6-3 tally, pushing her team-leading winning streak to three matches.
• Kalaga put the Aggies on the brink of victory with her result in flight four action. Her 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Sedovish extended the Aggies' lead to 3-1 before the Cougars started to battle back.
• A little over 24 hours after picking up her first dual match singles win of the season, Georgia Townsend was unable to push her winning streak to two matches. Her 6-3, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Dukic cut the Aggies' lead to 3-2.
• Zhu had a chance to clinch things for NM State in line two play, but fell victim to a strong final push by Pukhaeva in flight two play. The Aggies' freshman forced a third set, but wound up falling by a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2 tally to knot things up at three team points apiece.
• That set the stage for Nguyen who couldn't have picked a better time to notch her first WAC singles win of 2022.
COMING UP NEXT
• NM State steps out of WAC action next week for a pair of matches in the Lone Star State. The Aggies travel to San Antonio, Texas, on Friday at noon MT for a showdown with UTSA. The Aggies' two-match swing in Texas wraps up Sunday at noon MT in El Paso as they tangle with longtime rival UTEP.
++NM State++
