Tarleton State Tennis’ Castano, Ishii repeat as conference fall individual champions

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Tarleton State Tennis swept the United Athletic Conference Fall Individual Championships, with junior Maria Castano capturing the singles title and pairing with sophomore Aya Ishii to win the doubles crown on Sunday at the Governors Tennis Courts.

Both Castano and Ishii won their second consecutive fall conference individual titles. Castano won the Western Athletic Conference Fall Invitational singles crown last season, partnering with Ishii to win the WAC doubles title as well.

The Texans now own a combined five fall conference individual titles. Noelia Lorca won the first-ever WAC Fall Invitational singles crown in 2024.

Castano and Ishii earned the UAC's automatic bid to the ITA Conference Masters Championships in Rome, Georgia, Nov. 5-8. This will be their second trip to the event, where the duo won the program's first-ever ITA Conference Masters Championships match in San Diego last November.

"I'm really proud of Maria and Aya," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "The UAC is loaded with good talent, and we knew winning wouldn't be easy. But these two work so hard on and off the court and they proved they were ready this weekend.

"Playing your teammate in the final is never easy, but the quality of the singles match was impressive. We saw two competitors who push each other daily and genuinely respect one another. As a coach, it was really fun to sit back and enjoy great tennis! We're excited to carry this momentum forward and make a run at the ITA Conference Masters tournament."

Castano only lost two games en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win over EKU's Alyssa Giupponi in the singles quarterfinals, securing her spot in the singles final with a tough semifinal win. The Dominican Republic native won the first set tiebreak and maintained momentum in the second set to defeat top-seeded Yi-Ching Huang from Austin Peay 7-6(3), 6-3.

Ishii joined her teammate in the singles final with two victories in the draw as well. The No. 2 seed came back from a first-set loss in the quarterfinal to win in the tiebreak over UTA's Maria Isabel Suarez 4-6, 6-2 [10-2]. She defeated another player from UTA in the semifinals, getting a 6-2, 6-1 Flora Farkaslaki Hints to advance to the final.

The Texans showed their competitive spirit against each other in the final, splitting the first two sets. Castano edged out her sophomore teammate to retain her singles title, winning 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 over Ishii.

In doubles, Castano and Ishii bounced back from a first set loss in the semifinals to come out victorious over EKU's Izem Olcer and Giupponi 4-6, 6-4 [10-8]. The duo defeated North Alabama's Emma Ansorge/Mathilde Delaney 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday's doubles final.
The Texans wrap up the fall portion of their season Nov. 7-8, with the rest of the Texans competing in the States Up Slam hosted by Texas State. Castano and Ishii's matchups for the ITA Conference Masters Championships will be announced at a later date.

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Players Mentioned

Maria Castano: Sophomore

Aya Ishii: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Maria Castano
: Sophomore

Aya Ishii
: Freshman