STEPHENVILLE – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team was defeated 4-3 by the New Mexico State (NMSU) Aggies on Friday at Tarleton's Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts.  
 
NMSU (3-11) opened up a 1-0 lead with wins on the first and third doubles courts. Sophomore Isabelle Bahr and senior Katarina Sasaroga won their No. 2 match 6-4, leaving the No. 3 match as the clincher for the doubles point. The Aggies extended their lead with a singles win in the third flight. 
 
UTRGV (10-5, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference Southwest Div.) tied the match at 2-2. Sophomore Stefanie Wilske earned her fourth consecutive win at No. 5 with a score of 6-4, 6-1. Sasaroga picked up a nice 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6. 
 
The Aggies regained the lead at 3-2 with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win by Bhargavi Kalaga at No. 4. UTRGV freshman Barbara Martinez battled in the match and came back from down 0-5 in the second set, but Kalaga held on.  
 
NMSU secured the team victory with a win at No. 2. 
 
Bahr won the first set of her No. 1 match 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker), then dropped the second. Her third set against NMSU No. 1 Chloe Gavino was played as a 10-point tiebreaker with the overall victory secured. NMSU is a WAC member, but the loss will not count toward UTRGV's standings since the teams are in different divisions. 
 
Bahr and Gavino went point-for-point in the tightly contested tiebreaker, until Bahr pulled away late to take the win 1-0 (10-6). 
 
The Vaqueros will play a non-conference match against the University of Texas El Paso Miners on Saturday at 10 a.m. back at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts. 
 
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