Tarleton’s Barbaroux upsets No. 27 Coffman in singles, TexAnns fall to No. 24 Mustangs

STEPHENVILLE (April 3, 2018) – Tarleton suffered its first conference loss of the season Tuesday afternoon with a 7-2 loss to No. 24 Midwestern State.

“Both teams played in some tough conditions today and they were just better than us down the stretch,” said head coach Lance Drake. “I’m proud of the way Alicia and Shelby competed in the No. 1 and 5 singles and I thought we competed well in doubles.”

Tarleton pushed the Mustangs to the edge in doubles by winning at least five sets in all three matches before dropping the No. 1 match 8-6 and the No. 2 and 3 matches by identical 8-5 scores.

In singles, Alicia Barbaroux pulled off the biggest upset of the day by defeating Maddy Coffman, the No. 27-ranked singles player in the nation, in a thrilling tiebreaker. Barbaroux won the first set 6-4 before Coffman answered with a 6-1 win in the second. The Tarleton sophomore rebounded and won the tiebreak 10-8 to take the national upset.

Meanwhile, Shelby Fillingame was also battling in the No. 5 spot in the lineup and came out on top in a tiebreaker. She won the first set 6-2 and fell 6-3 in the second before rallying for a 10-2 win in the tiebreak for Tarleton’s second victory of the day.

It was also the final home match in the career of senior Erika Johnston, formerly Richarme. The lone TexAnn senior heads into the final stretch of her TexAnn career with 31 career singles victories, including 14 as the team’s No. 1 competitor, and 39 career wins in doubles play.

The complete results are as follows:

DOUBLES
1. #17 Maddy Coffman/Ashley Ramirez (MSU) def. Alicia Barbaroux/Sherine Salem (TSU) 8-6
2. Bianca Duff/Greta Lazzarotto (MSU) def. Neetika Sud/Shelby Fillingame (TSU) 8-5
3. Daria Panferova/Maddie Rowe (MSU) def. Erika Johnston/Chrystalynn Shirley (TSU) 8-5

SINGLES
1. Alicia Barbaroux (TSU) def. #27 Maddy Coffman (MSU) 6-4, 1-6, 10-8
2. #66 Bianca Duff (MSU) def. Neetika Sud (TSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Daria Panferova (MSU) def. Sherine Salem (TSU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Ashley Ramirez (MSU) def. Erika Johnston (TSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Shelby Fillingame (TSU) def. Greta Lazzarotto (MSU) 6-2, 3-6, 10-2
6. Emilija Segetlija (MSU) def. Chrystalynn Shirley (TSU) 6-4, 6-1

Tarleton will hit the road for four consecutive lone star conference road matches, beginning Friday with a 1:30 p.m. match in Odessa against UT Permian Basin.