LAWTON, Okla. – After suffering a pair of losses Friday, Tarleton's tennis team bounced back for a win over St. Mary's Saturday afternoon.
Friday: Oklahoma Christian 7, Tarleton 2
Tarleton's tough luck began in the first match of the day against NAIA powerhouse Oklahoma Christian, as only Karla Martinez and
Melanie Barnes earned victories against OCU.
“We got off to a rough start by dropping all three doubles matches,” said head coach
Lance Drake. “I didn't think our focus was where we needed it to be. We made a lot of mental errors and they cost us.”
All three doubles teams dropped their respective matches by the score of 8-4, with
Alicia Perez and Mackenzie Mitchell's perfect doubles record coming to an end.
Perez then faced the task of the No. 2 NAIA player in the nation and fell 6-1, 6-1.
Martinez earned a 7-6, 4-6, 10-5 victory in the No. 2 singles spot while Barnes battled back from an early loss to win 1-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Silvia Nieva (6-1, 6-3), Mackenzie Mitchell (6-3, 6-1) and
Kayla Deatherage (6-0, 6-0) suffered losses in the four, five and six spots.
Friday: Cameron 7, Tarleton 2
In the final games of the day, Tarleton only managed a pair of wins against hosting Cameron – a singles win by Martinez and a doubles win by Perez and Mitchell.
“We had some opportunities to try and shift the momentum of the match,” said Drake. “Martinez defeated the No. 3 player in the region and No. 28 player in the nation to try and get us moving, but Cameron was able to take some wind out our sails when Barnes fell. Karla played great all day and showed what type of player she is. I'm proud of her.”
Perez and Mitchell got back on track in the No. 2 slot with an 8-4 win.
Martinez and Barnes came just short of winning the No. 1 doubles match but fell 8-6, while Nieva and Deatherage fell 8-2 in the No. 3 slot.
In the singles matches, Martinez earned the only win with a 7-6, 6-2 outing. No. 1 TexAnn Perez forced a third set in her singles match, but faltered 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Barnes (6-3, 7-5), Nieva (6-2, 6-1), Mitchell (6-3, 6-0), and Deatherage (6-1, 6-2) also suffered losses.
Saturday: Tarleton 6, St. Mary's 3
The TexAnns came out Saturday morning and got back in the win column by riding the momentum of two doubles wins to take the match 6-3.
“I'm very proud of the girls' effort today,” said Drake. “We were really down after the Cameron match, but we showed a lot of determination and will power today by securing the victory.”
The No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams for Tarleton earned victories, with Martinez and Barnes (8-3) earning the No. 1 win and Perez and Mitchell (8-2) taking the No. 2 win.
In singles play, the top four Tarleton players earned wins.
Perez (6-1, 6-0) dominated the one-seed match while Martinez (6-2, 6-3) and Barnes (7-5, 6-1) took care of business in the two and three slots. Nieva won the No. 4 match 6-3, 6-2.
Mitchell and Deatherage both dropped their singles matches 8-4.
Tarleton returns home this week to host St. Edward's on Wednesday and Midwestern State on Thursday at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
