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STEPHENVILLE – The No. 21 Tarleton TexAnn tennis team downed East Central, 7-2, in Lone Star Conference match play in Stephenville on Thursday.
The TexAnns improved to 9-5 overall on the spring season and 2-1 in LSC matches. The Tigers are now 0-2 in the LSC.
Tarleton began the day with a pair of wins in doubles action as Jade Charlot and Evgeniya Prokofeva defeated Kendra Coltrain and Noelia Caballero (8-1) in No. 2 doubles, while Adrianna Jaskova and Carole Julen downed Rhiannon Mecanovic and Nilsa Ramirez (8-0) in No. 3 doubles.
ECU's Julia Arguello and Marta Valles defeated Mariana Freitas and Rocio Cabanillas (8-5) in No. 1 doubles, but Tarleton still headed into singles play up 2-1.
“No. 2 and No. 3 doubles moved well on the court today and did the necessary things in the match to post good results,” Tarleton head tennis coach Lance Drake said. “The first flight just played unaggressive and they both knew that.”
Jaskova, who currently ranks No. 41 in singles play, got things started for the TexAnns with a (6-7, 7-5, 6-3) win over No. 22-ranked Arguello in the first flight of singles to push Tarleton's lead to 3-1. ECU countered in the second flight as Valles defeated Freitas (7-5, 6-3) to pull back to within one match, 3-2.
Valles' win would prove to be the final won for ECU on the day as Tarleton swept the remaining third-sixth flights. Cabanillas downed Mecanovic (6-3, 6-1) in No. 3 singles, Charlot defeated Ramirez (6-1, 6-2) in No. 4 singles, Julen ousted Coltrain (6-2, 6-2) in the fifth flight and Prokofeva handled Kristen Clubb (6-0, 6-0) in the final flight to give Tarleton a 7-2 win.
“It was a good day in singles all around for us,” Drake said. “Adrianna's win was big. She hung in there and fought hard. After losing the first set and being down 3-0 early in the second set, she stayed focused and determined. That allowed her to change the momentum and take the match.”
“Mariana dropped her match, but we were really working hard on some things that we feel will be beneficial to her game,” Drake said. “Even with the loss, she was still able to make improvements out on the court.”
Tarleton has this Saturday off and will return to action next Thursday with a non-conference match against south central regional opponent St. Mary's. The match will be played in Stephenville is slated to begin at 2 p.m.
THURSDAY'S RESULTS
