LAS CRUCES, N.M. – On Friday afternoon, NM State earned its first-ever league victory since joining Conference USA as they defeated Middle Tennessee 4-2 at the NM State Tennis Center. With the win, the Aggies move to 4-10 on the year and 1-1 in conference matches.
 
The Aggies imposed their will early as the duo of Valeriia Ivanovskaia and Natsuki Nishimura earned their third straight win as they picked up a dominant 6-1 win over Lena Peyer and Eloise Swarbick on the No. 2 line. Meanwhile, Anna Pinaieva and Dora Kurdi clinched the doubles point for the Aggies as they defeated Rutuja Chaphalkar and Sana Garakani 6-3 at No. 1.
 
Ivanovskaia later continued her strong day in singles play as she waltzed over Eloise Swarbick at No. 5 – winning 6-0, 6-2. Moments later, Anna Pinaieva earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over the Blue Raiders' No. 1 player as she bested Sana Garakani 6-1, 6-1. As is usually the case, earning the fourth point proved to be the most difficult part for the Crimson and White and MTSU finally began to fight back.
 
The Blue Raiders earned wins at No. 6 and No. 4 before Lisa Zhu collected the match-clinching point. Zhu's match was back-and-forth all afternoon beginning with the first set which was decided by a tiebreaker. MTSU's Lena Peyer then evened the match with a 6-4 win in the second set before Zhu battled her way to a 6-4 win of her own in the match-deciding third set.
 
UP NEXT
NM State will make its way back to competition on Thursday, April 4, as they travel to Huntsville, Texas, to take its third CUSA opponent of the season as they face off with Sam Houston.
 
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