ARLINGTON, Texas – Sunday tennis in Arlington featured two of the top programs in the Western Athletic Conference. After Tarleton State lost the doubles point and lost the first set in five of six singles matches, the Texans ended up with five singles victories to come back and take down UT Arlington 5-2 on the road.
 
The Texans (11-2, 2-0) continued their special 2024 campaign with their sixth win on the road in seven opportunities. This was their first victory over the Mavericks (10-6, 0-2 WAC) since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, now 1-1 on the road at UTA.
 
"What an intense match!" head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "UTA has not lost very many this year, we knew we would all have to battle to win. Our energy was great from the start. UTA played two good doubles matches but the team rallied back and fought for every singles point. Martha [Makantasi] and Elsa [Boisson] had very tough matches, but dug their teeth in and battled. I am proud of Ximena [Morales] and Emma [Persson] for their performance today. After losing their first set, both of them elevated their game and fought hard for a win. Getting the win on Court 4 with Noelia [Lorca] was a nice way to end a very competitive match."
 
The Texans went 2-1 in their three-match week and are one of three teams to start conference play 2-0. They have the tied-fewest overall losses in the WAC and the second most wins, only behind Grand Canyon at 14-2.
 
To start Sunday at the UTA Tennis Center, the Texans lost just their second doubles point in their 13th match. The Mavericks won the first two doubles matches on Courts 1-2, as Tara Gorinsek and Mariana Manyoma-Velasquez defeated Makantasi and Maretha Burger 6-3 on Court 1, and Bruna Casasampere and Francisca Vergara took down Boisson and Morales 6-1 on Court 2. Lorca and Persson picked up a win on Court 3 for the Texans 6-4 over Ana Paula Jimenez and Sarina Reinertsen. Lorca and Persson are now 9-1 together.
 
UTA started singles play with a victory to go up 2-0 in the team score, which was the last point they'd take on the day. The Mavericks' Casasampere defeated Adeliya Mukhutdinova 6-4 6-4 on Court 6.
 
The Texans then rattled off five straight victories, with all five matches three-set affairs.
 
First, Makantasi defeated Manyoma-Velasquez 2-6 6-3 6-4 on Court 3 to improve to 11-2 on the year.
 
Then, Persson snapped a five-match losing streak with a comeback win of her own, taking it on the top court 1-6 6-4 6-3 over Gorinsek.
 
Morales' comeback was next, winning on Court 5 3-6 6-2 6-4 against Vergara. This was Morales' second singles match of the year and her first victory this season.
 
On Court 2 in front of a strong showing of Texan Nation, Boisson clinched the team victory 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 over Reinertsen. Boisson is now 9-4 overall, 9-3 at the No. 2 position.
 
Lorca finished with the fifth straight singles win on Court 4, defeating Paula Jimenez 7-6(6) 4-6 4-1. The match was retired due to an injury to Paula Jimenez. Lorca improved her team-leading singles record to 12-1.
 
Just five regular season matches remain for the Texans before the WAC Tournament, four of which will happen in Stephenville. The Texans announced Saturday that they will open the new Tarleton Tennis Facility on Thursday for their match against Utah Tech at 11 a.m. There will be a pre-match ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m.
 
"We are excited to come back home and play on our new courts Thursday," Douglas-Miron said. "We hope to see everyone out there and I know the girls will put on a good show."
 
Thursday's match will be the start of a three-match homestand, with the others occurring Saturday vs. Seattle U at 10 a.m. and April 5 vs. Stephen F. Austin at 10 a.m.