EL PASO, Texas – Tarleton State Tennis opened their season with a bang, blitzing UTEP with a commanding 6-1 win.
 
"It was a great start to the 2024 season," said head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron. "UTEP is a competitive Conference USA team, so we knew they were going to fight hard. We started out strong by winning the doubles point and things kept rolling from there. We had great energy and I look forward to competing again tomorrow."
 
The Texans set the tone early with two doubles wins securing the doubles point for the Purple and White.
 
Maretha Burger and Martha Makantasi had the best doubles outing for the Texans in the opening match of the season. The pair dominated UTEP's Elena Dibattista and Suzanna Szczepanska winning the match 6-1.
 
Emma Persson and Clara Sobius followed in their teammates' footsteps taking their match 6-3 over UTEP's Veronika Lebisova and Paloma Hennicaux.
 
After securing the doubles side of things, the Texans continued their hot streak taking five singles matches.
 
Makantasi and Elsa Boisson both swept their singles match putting the Texans just one win away from securing a win. Boisson took a 6-4, 7-5 win over Veronika Lebisova earning the Texans fourth point of the day clinching the match for the Purple and White. Makantasi won both sets 6-3 over Suzanna Szczepanska giving her the win.
 
Noelia Lorca, Persson and Sobius finished things off for the Purple and White, all winning their matches in three sets.
 
Lorca defeated Elena Dibattista after dropping the first set of the match. Lorca fought back in sets two and three winning 7-5 and 6-2 after losing set one 1-6.
 
Persson took sets two and three of her match 6-3 and 6-0 after dropping the first set 3-6 securing another point for the Texans over Carlotta Mencaglia.
 
The sixth and final point for the Texans was earned by Sobius. She took the win after taking a 6-2, 6-3 win over Hanna Telzynska in sets two and three after dropping the first set 3-6.
 
The Texans will have a quick turnaround as they will make the trip up the road from El Paso to former WAC foe and New Conference USA member, New Mexico State. The Texans and Aggies will face off at 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
 
The last time the Aggies and Texans squared off, the Purple and White came away with the 4-1 advantage. The win over the Aggies sent the Texans to the championship round of the 2023 WAC Women's Tennis Tournament.