HARLINGEN, Texas – Like the first meeting less than two weeks ago, Tarleton State had no problem handling Stephen F. Austin, this time quickly disposing of the Ladyjacks 4-0 to open the WAC Tournament.
 
The 2-seed Texans (16-3, 6-1 WAC) improved to 3-1 all-time in the WAC Tournament with their shutout victory over the 7-seed Ladyjacks (9-11, 1-6 WAC) on Thursday at the HEB Tennis Center in Harlingen. This marked Tarleton's first shutout victory in their NCAA Division I postseason era.
 
With the win, Tarleton State advances to the WAC Tournament Semifinals for the second straight year, as they'll take on 3-seed UT Arlington on Friday at 12 p.m.
 
On Thursday, the Texans had three blowout singles wins after cruising in the doubles point to clinch the team victory quickly. In doubles, Martha Makantasi and Maretha Burger defeated Felicia Back and Jemma Cave 6-1 on Court 1 to start, then Elsa Boisson and Ximena Morales clinched the doubles point on Court 2 with a 6-3 win over Carolina Chiatti and Ksenia Mamontova. The match at No. 3 went unfinished, tied at 3-3, between Tarleton's Noelia Lorca and Emma Persson, and SFA's Alkmini Giannakogiorgou and Avery Kinsey. Makantasi and Burger improved to 14-5 in doubles as a pair with the win, all at the No. 1 position, while Boisson and Morales improved to 7-2.
 
In singles, Adeliya Mukhutdinova dealt her opponent bagels, winning 6-0 6-0 at No. 6 over Kinsey. This was Mukhutdinova's first appearance in the WAC Tournament, as she improved to 5-5 this season.
 
All-WAC Singles Second Team player and Tarleton's leading winner in singles, Lorca, dominated once again to make it 3-0 Tarleton. She defeated Chiatti 6-1 6-1 at No. 4 to improve to 17-2 on the year.
 
Boisson then clinched the team victory on Court 2 with a 6-3 6-3 win over Back. This was the second time in Tarleton's four WAC Tournament wins that Boisson clinched the team victory, as she also won it for Tarleton State in the WAC Tournament opener last year. Also a All-WAC Singles Second Team honoree, Boisson improved to 13-6 this season.
 
The other three matches on Thursday went unfinished, with the Texans leading all three. Persson was up 6-2 4-5 on Court 1, Makantasi led 6-2 4-4 on Court 2, and Clara Sobius led 7-5 0-1 on Court 5.
 
The Texans sent the Ladyjacks to their sixth straight loss to end the season, and blocked them from getting their first ever WAC Tournament victory.  
 
Now Tarleton State turns their attention to a formidable UT Arlington squad, the third seed in this tournament.
 
The Lady Mavericks (15-7) also had an easy victory on Thursday, shutting out the host UTRGV 4-0. They won the doubles point with wins on Court 1 (6-1 by Bruna Casasampere and Francisca Vergara) and Court 2 (6-3 by Tara Gorinsek and Mariana Manyoma-Velasquez).
 
In singles, the Lady Mavs got wins on Courts 3 (6-2 6-2 by Manyoma-Velasquez), 5 (6-3 6-0 by Casasampere) and 6 (6-2 6-1 by Ioana Dumitrescu).
 
The Texans defeated UTA in Arlington on March 24 5-2. UTA won the doubles point in that one, then led by a set in five of the six singles matches before Tarleton stormed back for the victory. First, Makantasi defeated Manyoma-Velasquez 2-6 6-3 6-4 on Court 3. Then, Persson won 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. Boisson clinched the team victory 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 over Sarina Reinertsen on Court 2. Lorca finished with a win on Court 4, defeating Ana Paula Jimenez 7-6(6) 4-6 4-1. The match was retired due to an injury to Paula Jimenez.
 
This is the second straight year both the Texans and Lady Mavericks have advanced to the WAC Semifinals. The 2-seed Tarleton defeated 6-seed New Mexico State 4-1 last year, and 1-seed UTA lost to 4-seed Grand Canyon 4-2.
 
Admission is free at the 2024 WAC Tennis Tournament on Friday. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+, and live scoring for Tarleton's match can be found here.