Tarleton is already off to their best start in five years, and they'll host a doubleheader on Friday to build on the strong spring campaign.
 
The Texans welcome Montana State and UTPB to Stephenville, with match times set for 1 p.m. CT and 4 p.m. CT, respectively, at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts.
 
Tarleton has won three straight, and dating back to last season, the Texans have won nine of their last 12 matches. At 4-2 on the season, they're off to their best six-game start since 2016-17, where they began 5-1. That season, they fell to 5-2 in their seventh match, and improved to 6-2 in their eighth.
 
Junior Celia Vaudiau continues to rack up wins in the No. 5 singles position for Tarleton, now 4-1 with a four-match winning streak. In three of those four wins, she's won in straight sets, including three shutout sets of 6-0. On Tuesday in Tarleton's 7-0 sweep of Southwestern, Vaudiau won 6-0, 6-4 over Alli Ziehm and partnered with senior Faustine Palatte in the No. 2 doubles position to win 6-4 over Nina Mitrofanova and Lydia Lee.
 
Three other Texans have winning records in singles, all at 4-2. Tarleton's top player, Deniza Marcinkevica, is 4-2 at the No. 1 position, a winner of three straight singles matches. The Tarleton newcomer grinded out tough ones over her last two. She fell behind early against Mitrofanova on Tuesday 4-6 in the first set before winning 6-2, 6-2 over the next two for the match win. Martha Makantasi, Tarleton's No. 3, and Elsa Boisson, Tarleton's No. 4, have also each won three straight singles matches to get to 4-2. Makantasi cruised through Lee 6-0, 6-0 on Tuesday. Boisson took down Sydney Wahl 6-3, 7-6(3).
 
In doubles, Tarleton's No. 1 pair of Marcinkevica and senior Jemi Aguilar have yet to be defeated. They've posted a perfect 4-0 record, with two matches unfinished at Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Makantasi and Boisson are 3-2 as a pair, 2-1 at No. 3, 1-1 at No. 2.
 
Looking at Tarleton's doubleheader opponents, the Montana State Bobcats have already played 11 matches, owning a 4-7 record, 0-3 on the road. They're coming off of a thrilling 4-3 victory over their rival Montana Grizzlies, needing a win in the No. 6 position by Jazmin Lerman to clinch the match.
 
They've struggled in doubles, posting an overall team record of 3-7, 10-20 in each doubles match per pair this spring. The Texans are 3-3 in doubles as a team, 9-7 as pairs, with two unfinished.
 
Montana State, of the Big Sky Conference, has already played a Western Athletic Conference team this season. The Bobcats rolled Seattle U 6-1 on Jan. 28 in Bozeman, losing only the No. 4 singles match. MSU's No. 1 singles player, freshman Marta Garcia-Reboredo, is 3-3 in singles.
 
UTPB is 1-3, winners of their last match over Southwest to break a three-game losing streak. They've been blanked twice in four matches, losing 0-7 to UT Arlington and 0-7 to Air Force. Their other loss was 1-6 to Southeastern Oklahoma State.
 
The Falcons will face UTRGV in Stephenville on Friday at 10 a.m. CT to kick the day off before taking on the Texans at 4 p.m. CT. Tarleton matches up with the Vaqueros on Sunday at 10 a.m. CT.
 
All matches at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts are free entry.