NMSU Tennis Plays Rain Delay, Falls Short to Cal State-Fullerton

Fullerton, Calif.-The women’s tennis team of New Mexico State University had to battle both the elements and its opponent, losing a close 4-3 match against Cal State-Fullerton on Tuesday, March 22.

The match against CSF was originally scheduled for Monday, but was moved back one day due to rain. The delay forced the Aggies to play two matches in two days, requiring travel between the two matches.

The Aggies started off strong, winning all three doubles matches. Senior Isabela Kulaif and sophomore Ginet Pinero led off the doubles lineup with an 8-6 win over Tiffany Mai and Monica Rodriguez in the No. 1 match. Sophomore Jodie Williams and freshman Annemieke Witte followed up with a 9-8 win over Morgan McIntosh and Megan Sandford in the No. 2 match, and junior Natalia Salum and freshman Ros-Polly Nguyen finished up with an 8-2 win over Karina Akmendova and Katie Nichols in the No. 3 match.

The tide began to turn for NM State when singles play began. The Aggies earned two singles wins, but it was not enough to win the match.

Salum defeated Sandford 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 4 match and Nguyen defeated Nichols 6-0, 6-0, in the No. 6 match. The win by Nguyen was the single most dominating performance by any player from either team on the day.

“It was a hard loss, one that should not have happened,” head tennis coach Ivan Fernandez said. “We need to refocus and not let anymore matches like this get away from us.”

Due to another rain delay, NM State will face Cal State-Northridge tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. (MT).

NM State-3, CSF-4

Singles competition 1. Tiffany Mai (CSF) def. Isabela Kulaif (NMSU) 6-3, 7-5 2. Morgan McIntosh (CSF) def. Ginet Pinero (NMSU) 6-0, 6-4 3. Monica Rodriguez (CSF) def. Annemieke Witte (NMSU) 6-2, 6-1 4. Natalia Salum (NMSU) def. Megan Sandford (CSF) 6-4, 6-4 5. Karina Akhmedova (CSF) def. Jodie Williams (NMSU) 6-4, 7-5 6. Ros-Polly Nguyen (NMSU) def. Katie Nichols (CSF) 6-0, 6-0