ARLINGTON, Texas – Tarleton State Tennis' season came to a close after No. 3 seed UT Arlington defeated the No. 2 seeded Texans 4-2 in the WAC Tournament Semifinals on Friday at the Arlington Tennis Center.
UTA clinched the final three singles matches to advance to the WAC Championship and eliminate the Texans on Friday afternoon.
"I'm proud of this team and the fight they had all year," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "The season didn't end how we wanted, but we put ourselves out there and fought. Our seniors can leave with their head held high knowing they left the program better than they found it. We will continue to work to keep making Texan Nation proud."
As the Texans had done all year, Tarleton State got off to a fast start thanks to its doubles teams. Senior Maretha Burger and junior Emma Persson came up with their 10th win as a duo after defeating Ioana Dumitrescu/Ana Paula Jimenez on Court 2, 6-4. UTA, however, responded with a doubles victory on Court 1 to force a winner-take-all on Court 3.
Down 5-6 on Court 3, freshman Maria Castano and junior Clara Sobius forced a deuce and got the final point needed to go into a tiebreak. Castano/Sobius took a three-point lead in the tiebreak before UTA obtained the next three points to make it even. The Texan duo came in the clutch and collected the three points needed to secure the tiebreak, helping Tarleton State go up 1-0 in the match with the doubles point.
UTA responded in singles, with Jimenez coming up with the straight sets victory on Court 1 to tie up the match. It wasn't long, however, before Tarleton State reclaimed the advantage.
Continuing her momentum, Castano dominated singles action on Court 5. The Dominican Republic native, who leads the Texans in singles wins and won the university's Freshman Leadership Award on Wednesday, tasted victory once again. Castano's 6-1, 6-0 win over UTA's Nika Novikova gave the Texans a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The Lady Mavs responded by stringing together the singles wins needed to clinch. After wins on Court 2 and Court 6, Dumitrescu captured the three-set decider on Court 4 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to advance the Lady Mavs to the WAC Championship. Freshman Duru Kuscu's match on Court 3 went unfinished in the third set.
The Texans finished the season with a 13-8 record, including an undefeated 7-0 mark at home. Earning a first-round bye as a No. 2 seed, Tarleton State has now made the conference tournament semifinals in each of the last three seasons.
