STEPHENVILLE – Sherine Salem survived a thrilling match in the No. 3 position of the TexAnn singles lineup to cap off a 5-4 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville to open Lone Star Conference play at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Complex Friday afternoon.
 
"I'm very proud of this team for pulling out a gutsy win," said head coach Lance Drake. "We played in some tough conditions. Singles is their strength and we knew that they would make a run at us. The youngsters in the top half of our lineup were huge for us today. It was good to see them perform well, especially the tough performance by Sherine (Salem)."
 
Tarleton started the day off by taking a 2-1 advantage in doubles action as Alicia Barbaroux and Salem teamed up for an 8-4 win in the No. 1 match and Shelby Fillingame and Neetika Sud won 8-6 in the No. 2 match.
 
When singles action started, Barbaroux recorded the first win with a 6-2, 6-4 win before Kingsville went on to win three of the next four singles matches – Neetika Sud won that lone match for Tarleton at 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 2 spot – to tie things up at 3-3, leaving only Salem still playing.
 
The freshman battled back in her third set to take the win 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
 
The complete results are as follows:
 
DOUBLES
1. Alicia Barbaroux/Sherine Salem (TSU) def. Thep Philavong/Valerie Ruiz (TAMUK) 8-4
2. Shelby Fillingame/Neetika Sud (TSU) def. Laura Montalvo/Stephanie Baerman (TAMUK) 8-6
3. Vic Romanovskaia/Viviana Ortiz (TAMUK) def. Erika Johnston/Chrystalynn Shirley (TSU) 8-4
 
SINGLES
1. Alicia Barbaroux (TSU) def. Vic Romanovskaia (TAMUK) 6-2, 6-4
2. Neetika Sud (TSU) def. Thep Philavong (TAMUK) 7-5, 6-1
3. Sherine Salem (TSU) def. Laura Montalvo (TAMUK) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
4. Julia Rauer (TAMUK) def. Erika Johnston (TSU) 7-5, 6-2
5. Valerie Ruiz (TAMUK) def. Shelby Fillingame (TSU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Stephanie Baerman (TAMUK) def. Chrystalynn Shirley (TSU) 6-4, 6-4
 
Tarleton will hit the road tomorrow for a match in Austin against in-region rival, St. Edwards at 11 a.m.