STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Emma Persson continued shining on Tarleton's top court, but the purple and white fell in a conference match for the first time since 2020-21.
 
The Texans (9-5, 1-1 WAC) lost 6-1 against new WAC foe UT Arlington (10-2, 2-0 WAC) in Stephenville on Sunday, snapping Tarleton's 10-match conference winning streak. Tarleton lost a conference match for just the second time since becoming an NCAA Division I program (11-2) and they dropped to 5-2 at home overall this season.
 
UTA won their fourth straight match and are now 2-0 in conference play in their first WAC season. Since 2020-21, the Lady Mavericks are 51-9 (.850).
 
The two bright spots for the Texans on Sunday came in doubles on Court 3 and in singles on Court 1. In doubles, Ximena Morales and Clara Sobius improved to 3-0 as a pair on the week with their 6-4 win over UTA's Bruna Casasampere and Francisca Vergara. In singles, Persson capped off a 3-0 week in the No. 1 position with a victory in straight sets over UTA's Liz Chileno 6-3 6-3.
 
Persson, a freshman, is now 11-2 overall in singles this season, all on the top two courts. She's 5-1 in the top flight and has won three straight matches, Tarleton's longest active winning streak. Chileno, a senior, was 7-1 for UTA on Court 1 before losing to Persson.
 
The Lady Mavericks won the doubles point with wins on Courts 1-2. Beginning with a win at the No. 2 position, UTA's Chileno and Sarina Reinertsen defeated Elsa Boisson and Emma Persson 6-1. In the top flight, Tara Gorinsek and Ana Paula Jimenez beat Tarleton's Martha Makantasi and Clara Sobius 6-2.
 
UTA took the other five singles matches, two of them going the distance. On Court 2, Makantasi stormed back from a tough first set to nearly pull off the win, but ended up going down, as Gorinsek won 6-1 4-6 7-5. On Court 4, Morales had an impressive first set but couldn't continue it, as Casasampere won 2-6 7-5 6-3.
 
Reinertsen defeated Boisson on Court 3 6-1 6-1, Paula Jimenez beat Albayrak on Court 5 6-1 7-5, and Vergara snapped Sobius' seven-match winning streak 6-1 6-4 on Court 6.
 
Tarleton's six-match homestand is now finished, and they'll next hit the road for three matches over the next two weeks. First up is a set in east Texas, beginning at Stephen F. Austin on Friday at noon CT at Schlief Tennis Complex in Nacogdoches.