STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State Tennis’ Super Bowl Sunday party got started early, with the Texans defeating McNeese 4-1 on Sunday at the Tarleton State Tennis Facility.
The Texans capped off an undefeated weekend by handing the Cowgirls their first loss of the season. McNeese’s head coach Sonia Carlson, was a former Tarleton State assistant under head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron. McNeese assistant Noelia Lorca was an All-Conference player for the Texans.
Tarleton State extended its winning streak at home to 15 matches, with the streak dating back to the 2023-24 season. Freshmen Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti along with senior Ximena Morales led the way for the Texans by picking up victories in both singles and doubles.
“McNeese is well-coached. Sonia has that program in a great direction and having Noelia on their staff makes them even better,” Douglas-Miron said. “They show up to win every time they step on the court. Our team handled that very well today and we played to our ability to finish the weekend with a win.”
Ishii and Minetti started doubles action by collecting a bagel on Court 2, with the Texans needing just one more doubles win to get the go-ahead point. McNeese’s victory on Court 3 set up a winner-take-all match at No. 1 doubles. Morales and sophomore Maria Castano trailed by one in the 10th game, jumping out to a 40-0 lead and later getting the tying point. McNeese, however, won the next two games to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
As she had in doubles, Ishii helped the Texans get off to a fast start in singles. The freshman from Tochigi, Japan, dominated on Court 2 and won 6-1, 6-3 to make the team score 1-1. Ishii has not lost a singles set or match since Jan. 15.
Having not lost a set since Jan. 15 to go with three bagels in her last five wins, Morales has been playing some of her best tennis to start her senior year. That trend continued on Sunday. The senior from Guatemala City, Guatemala dominated on Court 4 for a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ana Hollweg.
Sophomore Duru Kuscu jumped out to an early lead on Court 6 before McNeese’s Elena Morales climbed back in the first set. After edging out Morales in a close first set, Kuscu won her third consecutive match by controlling set two, winning 7-5, 6-2 to put the Texans one point away from clinching.
Winning set one, Minetti trailed early in set two and her opponent was one game away from forcing a third set. Minetti, however, refused to lose. The freshman from Tampere, Finland, won the final three games and defeated Erica Hagi on Court 5 6-4, 7-5 to clinch the match for the Texans. Castano and senior Emma Persson’s singles contests went unfinished.
Tarleton State returns home next weekend for a pair of home matches at the Tarleton State Tennis Facility, starting with Texas State at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Admission to all Tarleton State home matches are free.
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