“I am very excited to have signed Rimple and Erika to come and play for the Aggies next year,” Fernandez said. “Replacing two great seniors like Annemieke (Witte) and Ros-Polly (Nguyen) is extremely difficult to do, but I am very fortunate to have signed two top recruits.”
Kaur comes to Las Cruces from her native India where she studies at the Harvest International School in the town of Jassowal. While at Harvest International, she trains and plays tennis at the Harvest Tennis Academy, one of the premier tennis facilities in India.
Kaur has been ranked as high as No. 275 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings. She has been among the top-10 junior tennis players in India since the age of 12. During her junior career, she has amassed over 50 combined wins in singles and doubles play and has won 11 singles’ titles and 12 doubles’ titles.
Castillo Lopez was one of the top-ranked junior-college tennis players during her stay at JCCC. She was named the Jayhawk Conference Rookie of the Year in 2012 after going 15-5 in singles’ play and 9-4 in doubles, including becoming the Region VI doubles’ champion along with her partner at the No. 1 position.
In 2013, Castillo Lopez went 16-3 in singles and 17-1 in doubles en route to becoming the Region VI champion in both singles, at the two spot, and doubles, again at the No. 1 spot. At the conclusion of the season she was honored as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American.
“Rimple and Erika will be a great addition to the core group of Aggie returners,” Fernandez said. “I know that they will have an immediate impact in the lineup.”