Box Score ABILENE - The ACU women's tennis team lost a 4-0 decision to Conference USA opponent New Mexico State at the Teague Special Events Center on Sunday afternoon.
NMSU (2-2) earned doubles points after posting victories in the number one and number three seeds. The Aggies tandem of Anna Pinaieva and Nadia Nemeth bested Marsha Versalovic and
Alice Klinteby by a 6-2 margin at the top spot. ACU's (0-3)
Eva Arranz and
Maria Cascos dropped a 6-2 decision at the three seed.
Angela Del Campo and
Olivia Sears were knotted at 3-3 at number two doubles, but that match wasn't finished once NMSU secured the doubles point.
The Aggies also won at one, two, and three singles to claim the four necessary points for victory.Â
"We got off to a slow start, but competed very well once we got settled in," said head coach
Bryan Rainwater. "I am very proud of our effort and felt like it was a good day in many ways. We competed at a high level for most of the afternoon, but we just failed to win the points we needed to win. This wasn't the result we wanted, but there were many positives  from this outing."
Sears dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision at number one singles to Pinaieva, who went 5-1 in Conference USA singles last season. Versalovic of Abilene Christian also fell by a 6-2, 6-4 margin to Zhu. Del Campo and NMSU's Moon played the most exciting match of the afternoon. Del Campo took the first set in a tie-breaker but lost the second set by one breakpoint (6-4). In the third set, Del Campo forced another tie-breaker, but Moon outlasted Del Campo's rally to claim the decisive point for the Aggies.
Once the outcome was decided, the remaining matches at the fourth and fifth seeds were halted. Cascos was only one game away from claiming a fourth-seed victory and Klinteby was on pace to force a third set when play was called.
Jess Board's match at six singles never started.
The Wildcats, who have opened their spring season with a pair of Power 4 opponents in addition to NMSU, will travel to UTSA next Saturday before heading to Austin to face the Longhorns on Sunday. ACU will not return home until February 21 when they host the University of New Mexico.
