STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Tennis kept their winning ways going in dominant fashion on Friday, as they rolled Stephen F. Austin at home 6-1.
The Texans (14-2, 5-0 WAC) remained perfect in conference play to keep pace with Grand Canyon, who also won on Friday to improve to 5-0. Those two will square off in a highly anticipated, high-stakes match on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT in Phoenix.
The Ladyjacks (9-8, 1-4 WAC) dropped their third straight match overall, falling to 5-3 on the road. The Texans improved to 8-1 at home with their win in Stephenville, and are now 3-0 at the Tarleton Tennis Facility since its grand opening last week. With every continuous win by Tarleton State, they set their best record at this juncture of a season since 2005. The Texans have now won five straight matches.
Tarleton is 3-0 against SFA since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, with this the first one played in Stephenville.
The Texans cruised in this one, sweeping the doubles point and winning five singles matches in straight sets, despite their top player not participating in singles action Friday.
Tarleton State won the doubles point for the 14th time in 16 matches this season.
Emma Persson and
Noelia Lorca got things started on Court 3 with a 6-1 win over Alkmini Giannakogiorgou and Avery Kinsey. Persson and Lorca are now 12-1 together. On Court 1,
Martha Makantasi and
Maretha Burger clinched the doubles point 6-3 over Jemma Cave and Felicia Back to improve to 12-4. On Court 2,
Elsa Boisson and
Ximena Morales finished it off for Tarleton with a 6-3 win over Ksenia Mamontova and Carolina Chiatti to improve to 5-1.
In singles, the Texans won the first five singles matches, beginning with
Clara Sobius on Court 6, 6-3 6-2 over Kinsey. Sobius is now 10-4 with four straight wins.
Lorca improved her team-best singles mark to 15-1 with a 6-1 6-4 win on Court 3 over Cave. This was Lorca's second ever match at No. 3, where she's now 2-0.
Makantasi then clinched the team victory for the third straight match for the Texans with a 6-3 6-3 win over Back on Court 2. Makantasi is 14-2 overall this season, 5-0 in WAC play, with five straight wins. She's now 2-0 on Court 2 and is 19-6 in WAC play in her four-year collegiate career.
Boisson played on the top court instead of Tarleton's usual No. 1 position player Persson, and she didn't miss a beat, winning 7-5 6-3 over Mamontova. This was Boisson's first ever victory on the top court, as she improved to 11-5 this season, 4-1 in WAC play. Boisson is 12-2 in WAC play over the past two seasons.
Morales concluded the Texan onslaught on Court 4 with a 6-3 7-6(9-7) win over Chiatti. Morales is 3-0 in WAC play, 3-1 overall this season.
The Ladyjacks salvaged a point at the end on Court 5 as Giannakogiorgou defeated
Adeliya Mukhutdinova 3-6 7-6(7-5) 1-0(10-4).
There are just two regular season matches remaining for the Texans. They will play their regular season road finale on Sunday against Grand Canyon in Phoenix at 5 p.m. CT. Both teams are 5-0 in WAC play. GCU is 17-2 overall compared to Tarleton's 14-2 overall mark. The Lopes are 11-1 at home to Tarleton's 6-1 road record.
