DENVER, Colo. – Tarleton was forced to rally back from a slow start, but the TexAnns took four of the six singles matches to win their second straight match of this Rocky Mountain road trip.
 
"It was a hard-fought win today," said head coach Lance Drake. "We started out slow in doubles. We just had too many errors in the No. 1 and had a slow start in No. 3. Fortunately, we got another solid performance from the No. 2 match. Also, credit to Western New Mexico for coming out strong."
 
Ashleigh Elward and Erika Richarme handled their business in the No. 2 match with an 8-3 win for Tarleton's lone doubles win of the day. Elena Preadca and Luiza Ferraro-Adas saw their doubles winning streak come to an end with a 5-8 loss while Ellie Stevens and Taylor Porter dropped the No. 3 match 4-8 to put Tarleton behind the eight ball after doubles.
 
Western New Mexico pushed its lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 win in the No. 6 match but Tarleton answered by taking four of the last five singles matches to complete the comeback.
 
Richarme pushed her singles winning streak to eight with a 6-4, 6-1 win in the No. 2 match while Preadca won the No. 5 match 6-3, 6-4 to even things at 3-3. Tarleton dropped the No. 3 match to fall one loss away from losing the match, but Ellie Stevens answered the call by polishing off a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win in the No. 4 match to bring the match to a 4-4 tie and leave it up to Elward in the No. 1 match.
 
"After going down 3-1, I thought our team battled well to get back in the match," said Drake. "Erika was solid all day. Elena didn't play her best, but she found a way to win it. Ellie had a very good win and was able to close out her match to get us back to 4-4."
 
In the No. 1 battle, Elward didn't disappoint.
 
The sophomore from Australia battled to a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 win in the No. 1 spot – improving to 11-4 on the season and delivering a 5-4 win Friday afternoon for Tarleton.
 
"After going down 4-2 in the third set, Ashleigh made a good adjustment and starting executing much better," said Drake. "She took four straight games to close out the match."
 
Tarleton will wrap up its three-game road swing through Colorado tomorrow at 10 a.m. with a visit to Metro State in Denver.