Women's Tennis 4/16/2026 12:10:00 PM Grant Cohen

Top-seeded Texans begin quest for WAC Tennis Tournament title Friday

ARLINGTON, Texas – Top-seeded Tarleton State begins their hunt for the program's first conference tournament title, starting the Western Athletic Conference Tournament against No. 4 seed UT Arlington in Friday's semifinal at 10 a.m. at the Arlington Tennis Center.

The Texans earned the No. 1 seed after posting the best regular season record in the conference with a 15-7 mark, including an 8-1 record at home. Tarleton State swept the regular season series with its WAC opponents, only allowing one opposing point during those matches.

Finishing as finalists in two of the last three WAC Tournaments, Tarleton State has made multiple conference tournament title matches in its history. Winning the 2026 WAC Tournament title would give Tarleton State Athletics its fourth conference tournament title at the Division I level (Baseball - 2024, Women's Golf - 2025, Women's Indoor Track & Field - 2026).

The winner of Friday's semifinal will take on either No. 2 seed Abilene Christian or No. 3 seed Utah Tech in the championship match on Saturday at 10 a.m.

After winning both the singles and doubles titles at the WAC Fall Invitational, the Texans won five of their first seven contests in the spring and went on another six-match winning streak. The Texans extended their home win streak to 18 games entering the last weekend of the regular season, ending the regular season with a 4-0 win over in-state rival Abilene Christian.

Tarleton State has won over 74% of its singles matches in 2026, combining for 82 wins. Freshman Aya Ishii has led the way for the Texans with a 16-3 singles record, playing at either the No. 1 or No. 2 spot. Seniors Ximena Morales and Emma Persson have also given the Texans a boost in singles play. Morales has a 15-3 singles record entering the WAC Tournament while Persson has won 11 of her 15 singles matches this season.

Doubles has been just as dominant for the Texans in 2026, picking up 42 doubles wins en route to winning over 73% of its matches. The freshmen duo of Marissa Minetti and Ishii have been the Texans' top doubles pair, posting a 13-5 mark that includes nine wins at the No. 1 doubles spot. Persson and Morales have also been key for the Texans in doubles with an 11-3 record and two WAC Doubles Team of the Week awards.

For the fifth time this season, Tarleton State swept the weekly awards from the WAC and brought their team total to 14 on Tuesday. Sophomore Maria Castano was named WAC Singles Player of the Week while Morales and Persson earned WAC Doubles Team of the Week honors. Castano capped off the 2026 campaign with her ninth singles victory of the season, winning the first set tiebreak en route to a straight sets win over ACU's Masha Vrsalovic at No. 1 singles on Saturday. Morales and Persson only lost one game combined in the last two regular season matches, capping off their last two home matches with a pair of doubles wins.

Friday's match is a rematch of last year's WAC Semifinal, with UTA defeating the Texans 4-2 to advance to the final. The Texans defeated UTA earlier this year with a 4-1 win on March 13 at the UTA Tennis Center. This will be the third meeting between the two schools in the WAC Tournament, with the series tied 1-1 in conference tournament matches.

UTA has won six matches in 2026, including two out of its last three. Freshman Tasnime Ahamout leads UTA's singles with seven wins while Natalia Gonzalez anchors doubles with six wins under her belt.

Admission is free to the Arlington Tennis Center for fans and live video will be available on WAC International. Live scoring will be available through Stat Broadcast.

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Players Mentioned

Maria Castano: Sophomore

Ximena Morales: Senior

Emma Persson: Senior

Aya Ishii: Freshman

Marissa Minetti: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Maria Castano
: Sophomore

Ximena Morales
: Senior

Emma Persson
: Senior

Aya Ishii
: Freshman

Marissa Minetti
: Freshman