ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After rain delayed the season opener, the No. 21 TexAnn tennis team officially opened their season with a 6-3 win over Ouachita Baptist Thursday afternoon.
 
"It's definitely a difficult challenge to ride for six hours and go play. It took us a while to get our legs under us but we did some good things on the court once today got rolling," said head coach Lance Drake. "I'm excited to see how we rebound tomorrow against a good team."
 
Tarleton got its afternoon started with a pair of doubles victories in its only two matches.
 
The combination of Sherine Salem and Alicia Barbaroux handled its match 8-3 in the No. 1 spot while Neetika Sud and Shelby Fillingame won the No. 2 match 8-2. Due to roster limitations, OBU won its first match of the day by default.
 
In singles, Tarleton won each of its top four matches with Salem putting on the most dominant showing in a 6-1, 6-0 win at the No. 3 spot. Barbaroux (6-2, 6-0) and Sud (6-1, 6-2) took care of the top two matches while Filligame won No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-1. Chrystalynn Shirley made her collegiate debut and won the first set 6-2 before falling in a tiebreaker.
 
The complete results are as follows:
 
DOUBLES
Salem/Barbaroux (TSU) def. Tabler/Dinsmore (OBU) 8-3
Sud/Fillingame (TSU) def. Phillips/Hernandez (OBU) 8-2
Stonage/Boyd (OBU) won by default
 
SINGLES
Barbaroux (TSU) def. Tabler (OBU) 6-2, 6-0
Sud (TSU) def. Dinsmore (OBU) 6-1, 6-2
Salem (TSU) def. Phillips (OBU) 6-1, 6-0
Fillingame (TSU) def. Hernandez (OBU) 6-1, 6-1
Stonage (OBU) def. Shirley (TSU) 2-6, 6-2, 1-0
Boyd (OBU) won by default
 
Tarleton will return to action against Henderson State tomorrow at 2 p.m. The TexAnns were originally scheduled to play No. 19 Southwest Baptist tomorrow and Henderson State on Sunday, but illness prevented Southwest Baptist from making the trip.