NATCHITOCHES, La. – Tarleton State suffered their first setback of the season on Saturday in the midst of their best start in nearly 20 years, falling 4-3 at Northwestern State.
The Texans (7-1) lost the third and final match of their road trip at the Lady Demons (4-2) in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Texans dropped to 4-1 on the road and Northwestern State remained perfect at home, now 4-0. Tarleton also had their seven-match winning streak snapped, while the Lady Demons extended their winning stretch to four straight.
Tarleton State took the doubles point to start the day, with a 6-0 roll by
Martha Makantasi and
Maretha Burger over Sofi Garcia and Sara Erenda. The duo improved to 7-1 on the year, all matches played on the top court. At No. 2, Northwestern State's Tjasa Klevisar and Maria Farina evened doubles with a 6-3 win over
Elsa Boisson and
Clara Sobius. Tarleton's duo of
Noelia Lorca and
Emma Persson then clinched the point with a 6-3 win over Honoka Umeda and Ayu Ishibashi at No. 3. The Texan pair is perfect together at 6-0.
In singles, the Texans and Lady Demons traded blows.
Northwestern State's Ishibashi struck first with a 6-1 6-1 win over Sobius at No. 4. Boisson responded with a 6-1 6-1 win of her own over Paige Wise on Court 2 to improve to 6-2. Farina then beat Makantasi 6-4 7-5 on Court 3 to even the team score at 2-2.
That was the first of a three-straight singles swing that went Northwestern State's way to clinch them the victory. Klevisar beat Persson 7-6(3) 6-1 at No. 1, then Umeda defeated Burger 6-1 2-6 6-4 to clinch the overall team match. Down 5-0 in the third set, Burger was resilient and fought back with four straight games to make it 5-4, but ultimately fell 6-4.
Lorca closed the day with a 2-6 6-2 6-1 win to make it a 4-3 final. She is now the last standing undefeated Texan in singles at a perfect 8-0.
After five matches in the last eight days, the Texans now get some time off before their next match. They'll play at home on March 1 against Prairie View A&M in Stephenville at 1 p.m.
