FORT WORTH, Texas – In a tune-up for the regular season that starts Saturday, the Tarleton tennis team competed as individuals this past weekend at the TCU Invitational, and once again proved the Texans are one of the premier programs in Texas.
The Texans had multiple victories against some of the top players from TCU, Texas Tech, SMU and Central Arkansas during the event at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth.
"We had a great first weekend out at TCU, the level of tennis was high and the girls stepped up and played with a lot of heart," head coach
Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "Playing this level of competition early in the year is always a great way to see where we are at after the holidays, and I'm excited to head to Oklahoma to kick off our dual matches."
Tarleton's first big win came on Sunday, with
Martha Makantasi defeating Texas Tech's Avelina Sayfetdinova in the first flight 6-4 7-6 (7-1). The Red Raider played in the No. 3 spot for Texas Tech all of last season and went 11-8.
Elif Albayrak followed Makantasi up with her own Texas Tech defeat, beating Lubbock native Camryn Stepp 7-5 6-4.
Sunday also featured singles wins by
Celia Vaudiau in the No. 4 spot over SMU's Cambelle Bouchard 6-1 6-3 and
Clara Sobius at No. 6 over SMU's Reka Patel 6-1 6-3.
To end the day in doubles, Makantasi and Albayrak rolled Texas Tech's top pair of Sayfetdinova and Yekaterina Dmitrichenko 6-1.
Laure Razet and
Audrey Pacheco also beat SMU's Emma Gretzky-Bouchard 6-3.
On Monday,
Emma Persson joined the victory parade with an impressive win over TCU's Helena Narmont 6-4 5-7 [10-8]. Vaudiau beat her Central Arkansas competition, winning 6-3 6-4 over Ting-An Chen.
In doubles,
Elsa Boisson and Sobius knocked off Central Arkansas' Chen-Sumomo Hamanaga 7-6 (10-8).
Tarleton now defends its WAC regular season title starting Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, with a double dip against Oklahoma and Missouri. The Sooners were the national runners-up last year, advancing to the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship round, where they fell 4-1 to Texas. First serve Saturday will be at 2 p.m. CT.
