Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State women's tennis head coach Ivan Fernandez announced the team's 2012-13 schedule Wednesday, featuring a home slate that includes the fall Aggie Invitational and seven home dual matches in 2013.

The Aggie Invitational kicks off the NM State fall schedule beginning Friday, Sept. 14. The three-day NM State tourney is expected to feature players from rivals New Mexico and UTEP as well as Northern Arizona and a couple of top-ranked Division II teams.

"I am really looking forward to seeing the team in action for our Aggie Invitational on the weekend of September 14-16," said Fernandez. "I am very excited about this upcoming season with five returners and three new freshmen. The team should be one of strongest we have had in the last few years."  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced the All-Academic teams and individual scholar athletes for the 2011-12 season. Four athletes from the women's team and the senior captain from the men's team were honored as scholar-athletes for New Mexico State.

The Aggie women's team earned the ITA All-Academic team award for the fifth straight year and ninth time in 10 seasons.

Departed 2012 senior Manon Sylvain earned ITA Scholar Athlete honors for the second time in her NM State career. Rising senior Jodie Williams and rising junior Annemieke Witte were each recognized by the organization for the second straight season. Additionally, Denise Van Der Ben earned her first honor from the ITA after completing her freshman campaign.  Continue Reading This Post >>

2012 WAC Men's Tennis Award Winners

First Team All-WAC Singles
Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Jean-Charles Diame, Fresno State
Francis Casey Alcantara, Fresno State
Jonathan Brooklyn, Hawai’i
Wessim Derbel, Nevada
Matej Stakne, New Mexico State

First Team All-WAC Doubles
Francis Alcantara and Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Jonathan Brooklyn and Dmytro Kovalyov, Hawai’i
Jose Bendeck and Cristobal Ramos Salazar, Idaho

Second Team All-WAC Singles
David Ayoun, Fresno State
Dmytro Kovalyov, Hawai’i
Marius Cirstea, Idaho
Abid Akbar, Idaho
Victor Ouvrard, Nevada
Sven Poslusny, Utah State

Second Team All-WAC Doubles
David Ayoun and Zach Leslie, Fresno State
Wessim Derbel and Fernando Sunago, Nevada
Marc Westgate and Luis Ramirez, New Mexico State

WAC Player of the Year: Remi Boutillier, Fresno State  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State women's tennis head coach Ivan Fernandez announced Mia Brandt, signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday to play tennis for the Aggies beginning in the fall of 2012.

Brandt is a native of Oslo, Norway, the first recruit for Fernandez from the Scandinavian country. The Norwegian ranked among the top five juniors in her country and was a national indoor doubles champion last season.

With no organized high school tennis, Brandt played at the number one or two positions on her club team in Oslo helping her team to a 14-6 record and a pair of top-three finishes. She chose NM State over several other Division I scholarship offers and plans to major in international business.

"I had the opportunity to see Mia play in Florida in December and was extremely impressed with her tennis and her composure on the court," Fernandez said. "I am very excited that she chose NM State.   Continue Reading This Post >>

New Mexico State senior Natalia Salum has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Athletes of the Week for the week of Jan. 16-22.

Salum, a senior from Durango, Mexico (Colegio Americano Durango), opened the year with three straight-set victories to help NM State to a 1-2 record last week in Las Vegas. She never lost more than three games in any singles set and gave up just 15 games total in three singles matches. Along with partner Jodie Williams, she went 3-0 in doubles at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions. Salum and Williams were promoted to the No. 1 slot on Sunday after their pair of wins at the No. 2 slot on Friday. The tandem’s wins helped the Aggies claim the doubles point twice last week and earned the only doubles win over No. 36 UNLV on Friday.

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State women's tennis head coach Ivan Fernandez announced Elizaveta (Lisa) Roslanova, signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday to play tennis for the Aggies beginning in the fall of 2012.

Roslanova is the No. 2 ranked singles player in the state of Saransk, Russia. She also plays on the Republic of Mordovia Junior Team. Roslanova was a semifinalist in the 2010 Republic Championships. In the classroom, the new Aggie carries a 3.7 GPA and has placed in the top three of the Biology Regional Olympics in each of the past three years.

"We are very excited to have Lisa join our team next August," said Fernandez. "I believe she is the first Russian tennis recruit we have ever signed. She is a solid player who will have an immediate impact on the team in both singles and doubles."  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Gina Palombit, NM State Athletic Dept.

"In union, there is strength," is an accurate phrase to summarize how the New Mexico State senior tennis players Manon Sylvain and Natalia Salum view their upcoming season.

Looking back on the past three years at NM State, both athletes have had their ups and downs but they have a similar objective in mind this year: to be nationally recognized as a team.

"I would love to win against a ranked team," Salum said.

A native of Durango, Mexico, Natalia Salum has come a long way in the past three years, making her junior year one of her finest. She made a complete turnaround from her sophomore year improving from 11-18 singles to 12-5.

Playing doubles was also a strong suit of hers last season; she teamed up with freshman Ros-Polly Nguyen and they went 13-3 together.

"I like the atmosphere on the team. We really motivate each other and that's what motivates me to win my matches," Sylvain said.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) recently announced the All-Academic teams and individual scholar-athletes for the 2010-11 season. Four athletes from the women's team and three players from the men's team were honored as scholar-athletes for New Mexico State.

The women's team earned the ITA All-Academic team award for the eighth time in nine seasons. The men's squad attained the team honor for the fourth time since 2005.

On the women's side, departed senior and 2011 student volunteer coach Isabela Kulaif earned individual academic honors from the ITA. Joining Kulaif as ITA Scholar Athletes were juniors Ginet Pinero and Jodie Williams alongside sophomore Annemieke Witte. It marked the first honor from the ITA for each of the women.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - One of South Africa's elite women's tennis players has signed a national letter of intent to play for New Mexico State University for the start of the Fall 2011 semester.

Mandy Mallen of Mid Illovo, South Africa, will become the newest addition to the NM State women's tennis team at the start of the Fall 2011 semester. Mallen is currently a senior at the Durban Girls' School in Durban, South Africa.

"I am really excited to be brining Mandy to NMSU in the fall of 2011," head tennis coach Ivan Fernandez said. "I have been looking forward to signing Mandy ever since I started recruiting her six months ago."

Mallen is nationally ranked 19th in singles and 13th in doubles for girls 18 and under. Mallen has been nationally ranked in the top 20 for the last six years. Mallen has also competed for the Interprovincial Team for the last four years.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State Athletics Director Dr. McKinley Boston didn’t have far to search for the new tennis coaches. Longtime tennis assistant coaches Carlos Vargas and Ivan Fernandez are tasked with leading the Aggies following Don Ball’s retirement.

Vargas becomes the new men’s head coach after he spent the previous 19 seasons as an assistant while Fernandez is in charge as the women’s head coach following his eighth season with the Aggies.

“Being the head coach has always been my goal,” Vargas said. “I’m thankful to coach Ball for giving me the opportunity to work with him and turning my life passion of playing tennis into a coaching career. I’m looking forward to being in charge of the men’s team.”  Continue Reading This Post >>