THE FIRST SERVE
• After going unscathed at the WAC Tournament to claim the program's third WAC Tournament title, the Aggies claimed the league's automatic bid into the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
• This marks NM State's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 as they get set to square off with No. 12 overall seed Oklahoma State.
• The Cowboys will host the first-round matchup with the winner advancing to face the victor between UCLA and Arkansas which is also slated to be held in Stillwater.
• NM State holds an 0-2 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament, most recently dropping a 4-0 decision in 2019 to No. 3 Stanford, who went on to claim the National Championship over top-seeded Georgia.
• The Aggies have matched up with Oklahoma State five times, unable to come away with a win in their previous attempts, the last coming in 2006, a 4-1 loss to the Cowgirls.
• NM State boasts a conference-high four selections on the WAC All-Tournament team, including Bella Nguyen on the singles team and paired up with Miranda Mishard on the doubles squad, and Natsuki Nishimura as a solo selection along with Gavi Kalaga on the doubles team.
• Few doubles pairings in the WAC have had as much success as the Aggies' top-flight tandem of Chloe Gavino and Lisa Zhu. Named to the All-WAC Doubles First Team, Gavino and Zhu have gone 15-5 together this season. That mark includes a 3-1 showing against WAC competition in addition to nearly half of the team's 34 doubles wins in 2022.
• Slotted on line six, Miranda Bishard gave the Aggies a significant boost at the bottom of their singles list at the WAC Tournament. The Orlando, Fla., posted a 2-1 record with her wins coming in the semifinals against Sam Houston and finals against Seattle U.
• Meanwhile, Zhu was also a pivotal piece at the WAC Tournament. The freshman from Beijing, China, took down Seattle U's Liliya Dimova in No. 2 spot in the WAC Finals. Zhu also enters the NCAA Tournament as the Aggies' leader in singles wins, hoisting a singles record of 14-7.
• One of just two other Aggies who have amassed double-digit singles wins in 2022 is Gavi Kalaga. The Bhubaneswar, India, product increased her win total to 11 when she earned a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Sam Houston's Sahithi Vutukuru in the semifinal round.
• Like Kalaga, Natsuki Nishimura went 3-1 against WAC opposition in singles action this season. The junior is the third Aggie on the roster to eclipse 10 wins this season and has won three of her last four.
 
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• The Cowgirls amassed an 18-5 record on the year, going 7-2 in Big XII action, their only loses in conference play coming to #2 Oklahoma and #4 Texas.
• Oklahoma State faced a steady diet of top level competition in the regular season, playing 14 matches with 2022 NCAA Tournament teams, going 10-4 in those games
• Lisa Marie Rioux played from the one line in all but one match this season, going 10-6 and 5-5 in her last 10. Ayumi Miyamoto
• Rioux and Miyamoto were far and away the most played doubles pairing for the Cowgirls, going 7-3 on the top line and 10-0 on the two line.
• As a team, Oklahoma State went 73-34 overall (.682) in singles and 37-19 (.661) in doubles play.
 
COMING UP NEXT
• With a win over the Cowgirls, the Aggies would advance to the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, NM State playing the winner of the UCLA/Arkansas match. Second-round action is set to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday.