Tarleton State Tennis completes fall season at ITA Conference Masters

SAN DIEGO – Tarleton State's Maria Castano and Aya Ishii completed the Texans' 2025 fall tennis season on Sunday at the ITA Conference Masters Championship.

Castano and Ishii advanced to the round of 16 in doubles, marking the first victory in singles or doubles for the Texans at the ITA Conference Masters Championship.

This was the first time the Texans had representation in both singles and doubles at the ITA Conference Masters Championship. Noelia Lorca competed in singles at the event in 2024.

Castano claimed the WAC Fall Invitational singles title in Utah to secure her singles spot in the event. The pairing of Castano and Ishii went undefeated to take home the doubles crown at the conference's fall invitational to punch their tickets to San Diego.

"What an outstanding way to finish the fall," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "Not only were we able to represent the WAC for the second straight year at this event, but advancing in doubles shows huge growth for us as a program. Maria and Aya played some top notch tennis and defeated a very good doubles team from Richmond. I'm very proud of our efforts and now it's time to get ready for the spring."

Castano and Ishii picked up right where they left off in Utah and came out firing in San Diego. The Texans' duo owned the action in the first set against Lara Bakhaya/Sofia Barbulescu from the University of Richmond, defeating the Spiders' pair 6-2 in the opening set. Despite Richmond winning the second set tiebreak to force a third set, it was Castano and Ishii that came out on top. Castano and Ishii won the third set 10-7 to advance to the round of 16.

The Texans' duo attempted to climb back from behind, but ultimately fell short to San Diego State's duo 6-2, 7-6(3). This was the deepest run a Texan doubles team has advanced in the ITA Conference Masters Championship.

In singles, Castano was edged out in the first set tiebreak and was defeated in the round of 32 by University of Denver's Marley Lambert 7-6(4), 6-3. Castano won her next match in the consolation round before losing a three-set thriller to Northern Arizona's Patrycja Niewiadomska.

Tarleton State's fall season concludes and will begin the spring portion of its schedule in January. The spring schedule will be announced at a later date.

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Players Mentioned

Noelia Lorca: Senior

Maria Castano: Sophomore

Aya Ishii: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Noelia Lorca
: Senior

Maria Castano
: Sophomore

Aya Ishii
: Freshman