ARLINGTON, Texas – The WAC Tournament championship match was as close as it could possibly play out between Tarleton and Grand Canyon on Saturday at the Arlington Tennis Center. Unfortunately for the Texans, a third set tiebreaker in a winner-take-all singles match went to the Lopes, giving Tarleton silver in their first ever NCAA Division I conference tournament.
 
Tarleton led 3-2 with two singles matches left to finish. The two deciding matches were between both teams' best players on Courts 1-2. GCU won on Court 1 to tie it at 3-3. On Court 2, Texan junior Martha Makantasi held off defeat five times, forcing a third set tiebreaker, which she eventually dropped 7-4.
 
"That was the most exciting college tennis match I have ever been a part of," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "I can't say enough about our upperclassmen. Elsa took care of business again and played some incredible tennis. Celia has had an incredible journey here at Tarleton and she deserves a lot of credit for our success these past three years. Martha was a stud today. She left it all on the line and I couldn't be more proud of her. Trust me when I say, we will be back."
 
Tarleton concludes yet another incredible season, finishing at 17-7 overall (7-2 WAC). Over the past two seasons, Tarleton has gone 35-11 (.761), 12-2 in conference matches, earning a WAC regular season title in 2022 and a second place finish in both the regular season and WAC Tournament in 2023.
 
The Texans were on the doorstep of their first ever conference tournament championship on Saturday, leading 3-1 against No. 4 seed GCU with three singles matches to play.
 
The purple and white started with the doubles point with wins on Courts 2-3. Elsa Boisson and Celia Vaudiau led off with a 6-2 win over Anali Kocevar and Madeline Lamoreaux on Court 2, then Emma Persson and Clara Sobius clinched the point with a 6-4 win over Dania Deaifi and Valentina Del Marco on Court 3. The top flight doubles match went unfinished, with GCU's Natasha Puehse and Santa Strombacha leading 5-3 over Makantasi and Ximena Morales.
 
GCU struck first in singles on Court 5, with Lamoreaux snapping Sobius' five-match winning streak 6-1 6-2. Sobius finished her freshman year 16-7, earning the second most singles win on the team.
 
Two of Tarleton's three upperclassmen then won back-to-back matches to each finish their day 2-0 across doubles and singles. Vaudiau ended her Tarleton career with her ninth straight singles match win, beating Del Marco 6-3 6-0 on Court 6. Vaudiau concluded her senior year at 11-4 in singles. Boisson then knocked off Deaifi 6-2 6-2 on Court 3 for her 10th straight win to end her junior season. Boisson, an All-WAC First Team singles player, had the best singles record on the team at 18-4.
 
Needing just one more point for the title, Tarleton was unable to get that final win.
 
After a tough first set, Morales mounted a comeback in the second set to give herself a chance, taking it to a tiebreaker on Court 4. GCU's Kocevar finished the win though 6-1 7-6(7-3). Morales ended her freshman year at 9-11.
 
The final two singles matches went to a third set, with all four players either 2023 or 2022 All-WAC First Team award winners, including this season's WAC Player of the Year, Persson.
 
In the top flight, Puehse held off Persson 6-3 3-6 6-1 to make it a 3-3 team match. Persson finished her stellar freshman campaign 14-8, all matches played in the top two positions.
 
In the winner-take-all match on Court 3 between Makantasi and Strombacha, it was one for the ages. Not only were there controversial official rulings throughout and several warnings to the head coach from Phoenix, but since it was the final match, all eyes were glued on Court 2, and every point ended in jubilation and heartbreak.
 
Makantasi cruised in the first set 6-2, but Strombacha responded in the second set 6-3. In the third set, Strombacha led 5-3 and held match (and championship) point, but Makantasi staved it off. Down 5-4, Makantasi was down 40-15, needing three straight points to stay alive. Indeed, she won three straight points to tie the match. Strombacha won the next game to go up 6-5, but again, Makantasi responded to send the match to a tiebreaker.
 
The first point of the tiebreaker seemed to belong to Tarleton, but a questionable "out" call switched the point to the Lopes. GCU took a 4-2 lead, then made it 6-3 in the tiebreaker. Makantasi held off defeat for a fifth time to make it 6-4 Strombacha, but she couldn't do it a sixth time, as Strombacha won 2-6 6-3 7-6(7-4) to clinch Grand Canyon's WAC Tournament title.
 
Tarleton's future is brighter than ever, however. Of Tarleton's seven-woman rotation this season, four were freshmen, and just one played her final collegiate season.