ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Tarleton suffered its first loss of the season in a 4-5 heartbreaker to No. 11 Southwest Baptist before rebounding to take care of Henderson State 8-1 in the nightcap Friday night.
Match 1: No. 11 Southwest Baptist 5, Tarleton 4
Tarleton took the advantage after doubles play but fell in singles to drop a heartbreaker in Arkadelphia to the No. 11 Bearcats.
"It was a very competitive match," said graduate assistant coach Suzi Alcaraz. "We did a great job of taking a 2-1 advantage after doubles. We had several opportunities but couldn't close them out. It will be a good match for us to learn from."
Tarleton won the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches with identical 8-5 scores as
Erika Johnston and
Ashleigh Elward took care of the No. 2 match and the freshman duo of
Alicia Barbaroux and
Tori Simmons won the No. 3 match.
Luiza Ferraro-Adas and
Elena Preadca fell in the No. 1 match 8-3.
In singles, Barbaroux and Simmons took care of business in the No. 5 and 6 matches, respectively, as Barbaroux won 6-1, 6-0 and Simmons earned the win 6-2, 6-2. Johnston (4-6, 4-6), Preadca (2-6, 2-6), and
Ellie Stevens (3-6, 3-6) fell in straight sets while Elward dropped a 6-1, 6-7, 2-6 thriller in the No. 3 battle.
Match 2: Tarleton 8, Henderson State 1
Tarleton rebounded well in the second match of the day to take an 8-1 victory against Henderson State and improve to 3-1 on the young season.
"The girls did a great job of bouncing back from a tough loss in the morning match," said head coach
Lance Drake. "The fought pretty hard in every match and we were able to execute what we wanted at important times in the match."
Tarleton came out swinging and swept doubles action, beginning with an 8-2 win from Barbaroux and Simmons in the No. 3 spot. Johnston and Elward took care of No. 2 with an 8-4 score while Ferraro-Adas and Preadca won the No. 1 match 8-5 to finish off the 3-0 advantage.
In singles, Stevens (6-3, 6-3), Barbaroux (6-2, 6-3), and Ferraro-Adas (6-4, 6-0) wasted no time earning wins in the No. 3, 4, and 6 matches while Preadca went down to the wire to win a 6-3, 7-6 match in the No. 2 battle. Simmons earned the final Tarleton win in the No. 5 match with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win while Johnston fell in the No. 1 spot in a 3-6, 6-7 heartbreaker.
Tarleton will return to action tomorrow at 11 a.m. against Delta State to wrap up their trip to Arkadelphia.
