STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton has just two home matches remaining this season, and both will be significant Western Athletic Conference clashes with three top-tier WAC teams involved.
 
First up on Thursday at 1 p.m. CT, Tarleton will host Grand Canyon in Stephenville for the first time in their third all-time meeting. The two have split each match over the past two seasons, with Tarleton winning 4-2 in Phoenix last year on their way to the WAC regular season title. In 2020-21, GCU won 6-1 at a neutral site match in St. George, Utah, on their way to the WAC regular season and WAC Tournament titles.
 
This year, both Tarleton and GCU are in the top-five in the WAC standings. Tarleton has the second best overall record among WAC programs at 11-6, sitting at 3-2 in conference play, while GCU is 4-2 in the WAC coming off of back-to-back 7-0 shutouts against Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. The Lopes are 10-8 overall.
 
Tarleton had a rare slip-up in their last match, falling at Abilene Christian on Sunday. Tarleton has only lost consecutive matches once in the past two seasons, which occurred in the first set of dual match play this spring against two Power Five conference programs, including the No. 4 team in the country in the Oklahoma Sooners.
 
Freshmen have powered the Texans in 2022-23, most notably Emma Persson, who improved to 4-1 in the WAC in the top singles flight with her win at ACU. She's 13-3 overall in singles this year, all on Courts 1-2.
 
Clara Sobius (11-6), Elif Albayrak (4-3) and Ximena Morales (6-8) have also been consistent spots in the lineup. Martha Makantasi and Elsa Boisson have led the returners, with Makantasi normally playing in the No. 2 spot, and Boisson at No. 3, where she's 8-3 this season. Overall, she's posted an 11-4 singles record this year.
 
In doubles, Makantasi and Boisson have recently been paired up on Court 1. They played together as a pair against GCU last season, beating the duo of Valentina Del Marco and Sara Rakim 6-4. Makantasi and Boisson also each defeated their Lopes counterparts in singles last year, with Makantasi winning 6-3 7-5 over Santa Strombacha on Court 3 and Boisson winning 6-3 6-2 over Autum Prudhomme on Court 4.
 
For GCU this year, Strombacha has consistently played on Court 2, so we could have a Makantasi-Strombacha rematch. The GCU junior is 15-1 at the No. 2 position this season, 15-2 overall, with an eight-match winning streak.
 
For the third straight season, Natasha Puehse has been GCU's primary No. 1 singles player. She's 12-3 overall in singles on the year with an eight-match winning streak.
 
GCU's primary No. 5 singles player Madeline Lamoreaux has won 11 straight singles matches, owning a 14-4 record this year.
 
Tarleton and GCU have had four common opponents this season in UT Arlington, UTRGV, SFA and Sam Houston. Tarleton went 3-1 against said opponents, while GCU went 2-2.
 
The matchup on Thursday will be Greek Day, and Tarleton is welcoming all those involved in Greek Life to show up and show out.
 
Thursday's match will be live scored and live streamed, as well.