ABILENE, Texas – Tarleton State Tennis freshmen Maria Castano and Duru Kuscu led the Texans in the Wildcat Invite that concluded Sunday. 

Castano was a finalist in her Flight C singles bracket, defeating opponents from SMU and Abilene Christian before falling to Elena Daskalova of Texas Tech in the final match. The Dominican Republic native captured the Flight B Doubles Title with junior Clara Sobius. 

Despite losing her first singles match to Texas Tech's Arina Oreshchenkova, freshman Duru Kuscu bounced back to clinch two consecutive singles matches in Flight B. The freshman from Turkey defeated both her opponents New Mexico State and UTEP in the two-set tiebreak. 

"Maria and Duru showed tremendous grit over the weekend," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "They have been working hard in practice and it showed on the court. It's exciting to have freshmen who already understand what it means to be a Texan. We still have a lot of work to do, but their talent mixed with their strong work ethic will undoubtedly make them tough competitors in the spring." 

Junior Adeliya Mukhutdinova also continued her win streak in Abilene, going a perfect 3-0 in singles in Group F. Mukhutdinova, who has not lost a singles match since Sept. 7, moved to 8-1 in singles this fall. 

Tarleton State had several victories in the third place matches in singles flights. Junior Emma Persson clinched third place in Flight A with a victory over Texas State's Callie Creath 6-1, 6-3. Senior Noelia Lorca was the third place winner in Flight C singles after defeating Abilene Christian's Maria Cascos 6-1, 6-3. 

The Texans will send student-athletes to the ITA Texas Regional Championships starting Oct. 10. 

Women's Open Singles 
Flight A 
Quarterfinals 
Persson def. Nagasawa (UTSA), 6-4, 6-0
Semifinals 
Sears (Abilene Christian) def. Persson, 7-5, 6-2
Third Place Match
Persson def. Creath (Texas State), 6-1, 6-3

Flight B 
Quarterfinals
Oreshchenkova (Texas Tech) def. Kuscu, 6-4, 6-4
Consolation
Kuscu def. Zhu (New Mexico State), 6-4, 3-6, 11-9
5th Place Match
Kuscu def. Bernier (UTEP), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-3

Flight C 
Quarterfinals
Castano def. Schefke (SMU), 6-2, 4-6, 10-6
Lorca def. Castaneda Guerro (UTSA), 4-6, 6-2, 11-9
Semifinals
Castano def. Cascos (Abilene Christian), 6-4, 6-1
Daskalova (Texas Tech) def. Lorca, 6-3, 6-1
Finals
Daskalova (Texas Tech) def. Castano, 6-2, 7-6(3)
Third Place Match
Lorca def. Cascos (Abilene Christian), 6-1, 6-3

Flight D 
Quarterfinals
Morales def. Parkinson-Lubold (New Mexico State), 6-4, 6-2
Semifinals 
Del Campo (Abilene Christian) def. Morales, 7-5, 6-4
3rd Place Match 
Nemeth (New Mexico State) def. Morales, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4

Flight E
Quarterfinals
Sobius def. Zhang (UTEP), 6-4, 6-1
Semifinals 
Mills (Texas State) def. Sobius, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(3)
3rd Place Match
Lora Meza (Texas State) def. Sobius, 6-1, 6-0

Flight F (Group Stage Only) 
Mukhutdinova def. Board (Abilene Christian), 6-0, 6-3
Mukhutdinova def. Toyos (Abilene Christian), 6-3, 6-4
Mukhutdinova def. Nikolaea (New Mexico State), 6-1, 6-1
Board (Abilene Christian) def. Burger, 0-0 (retired) 

Women's Open Doubles
Flight A
Quarterfinals
Burger/Morales def. Nagsawa/Sanchez (UTSA), 6-2
Semifinals
Bjork/Skelton (SMU) def. Burger/Morales, 6-3
3rd Place Match
Burger/Morales def. Fortuno/Lora Meza (Texas State), 7-6 (6)

Flight B
Quarterfinals 
Castano/Sobius def. Mauchi/Simme (Texas State), 7-6(6) 
Bernier/Szczepanska (UTEP) def. Lorca/Persson, 6-4
Semifinals 
Castano/Sobius def. Parkinson-Lubold/Zhu (New Mexico State), 7-5
Finals
Castano/Sobius def. Bernier/Szczepanska (UTEP), 6-4
Consolation 
Lorca/Persson def. Klinteby/Sears (Abilene Christian), 6-1
5th Place Match
Lorca/Persson def. Mauchi/Simme (Texas State), 6-3

Flight C (Group Stage Only)
Carreno/Hennicaux (UTEP) def. Mukhutdinova/Kuscu, 6-4
Moon/Nemeth (New Mexico State) def. Mukhutdinova/Kuscu, 7-6(3)
Mukhutdinova/Kuscu def. Arranz/Board (Abilene Christian), 6-2