HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Tarleton took it to Sam Houston on Sunday to cap off a perfect east Texas road trip, as the Texans dominated the Bearkats 6-1 after beating Stephen F. Austin on Friday 5-2.
Tarleton (11-5, 3-1 WAC) improved to 6-2 on the road, beating Sam Houston (4-8, 1-2 WAC) for the second straight year, this time at the Kelly and Ina May McAdams Tennis Center in Huntsville, Texas.
The Texans took the doubles point to start the 10 a.m. CT match, which was moved up an hour with possible inclement weather hitting the town later in the day. In a doubles lineup shuffle,
Elif Albayrak and
Ximena Morales moved up to the No. 2 position and kept their winning ways going, improving to 5-0 as a duo with a 6-1 win over Sahithi Vutukuru and Linn Svaerd. Sam Houston's Anastasia Khokhlova and Aaliyah Hohmann then beat
Emma Persson and
Clara Sobius 6-4 on Court 3. The Texans clinched the doubles point in the top flight with a win by
Martha Makantasi and
Elsa Boisson 6-4 over Paula Cerda and Vianne Schwab. Makantasi and Boisson are now 6-2 as a pair with three straight wins.
Makantasi began Tarleton's strong day in singles with a 6-3 6-0 win over Khokhlova on Court 2.
Albayrak then made it 3-0 Tarleton, handing her opponent bagels with a 6-0 6-0 win over Schwab on Court 4. Albayrak is now 4-2 overall in singles this year and 2-0 at the No. 4 position.
Sobius clinched the team win on Court 6 with a 7-5 6-1 win over Svaerd. Sobius is 11-5 in singles action this year and has won nine of her last 10 matches.
Sam Houston took their lone win at the No. 1 position as Cerda beat Persson 7-5 7-6(5).
Morales snapped a three-match slide with a 6-1 0-6 6-3 win on Court 5. Boisson capped off the 6-1 team win with a 7-6(2) 7-5 victory over Vutukuru in the No. 3 flight. Boisson has won seven of her last eight matches.
The Texans will wrap up their three-match road trip on Saturday at noon at Abilene Christian. Last year at the Eager Tennis Pavilion, Tarleton and ACU played a classic match to end the regular season, with the Texans taking it in the final singles match to win 4-3.
