Tarleton State hits the road to face South Alabama, Northwestern State this weekend

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Tarleton State Women's Tennis heads to the Bayou State for a pair of road matches, facing South Alabama and Northwestern State starting Saturday at the Jack Fisher Lady Demon Complex.

The Texans will be on the road for the first time since Jan. 15 and are coming off a five-match win streak. Tarleton State dominated home action Jan. 31-Feb. 15, only losing one point that entire stretch. The Texans extended their home winning streak to 16 matches, with the streak dating back to the 2023-24 season.

The freshmen duo of Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti enter this weekend's matches earning their second straight WAC Doubles Team of the Week. This is Minetti's fourth weekly/monthly honor from the WAC and Ishii's third of the 2025-26 season.

Ishii and Minetti won their fifth doubles match as a duo together with a 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Vi Salcedo Franklin/Amelie Montalvo from Incarnate Word on Sunday. Their win helped the Texans clinch doubles to claim the match 7-0 for the team's fifth straight win. They were instrumental in the Texans' 16th straight victory at home.

Ishii and senior Ximena Morales lead the Texans in singles, each posting a 6-1 singles record in 2026. Morales has won 12 straight singles sets and has posted four bagels thus far. The Guatemala City, Guatemala, native's only loss has come from a nationally-ranked Oklahoma opponent. Ishii has also won 12 straight singles sets and earned WAC Singles Player of the Week honors on Feb. 10.

Minetti has also had a strong singles outing thus far, posting an undefeated 5-0 singles record. Sophomore Duru Kuscu is also on a singles win streak, winning her last four singles contests to bring her 2026 record to 4-1.

Saturday's meeting against South Alabama will be the Texans' first contest against the Jaguars in women's tennis. South Alabama is 4-0 this season and has only lost three points as a team all year.

The Texans will face Northwestern State for the second time in program history. Their last meeting against Lady Demons ended with a 4-3 heartbreaking loss in 2024 in Natchitoches. After losses to a nationally-ranked LSU team and North Texas, Northwestern State bounced back to win four matches in 2026.

No live stream or live scoring will be available for this weekend's matches. Fans can get up-to-date info by following Tarleton State Tennis' social media pages @TarletonTennis

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