AUSTIN – Tarleton State Tennis won the Western Athletic Conference’s Player, Freshman and Coach of the Year awards and earned seven spots on All-WAC teams, the conference announced Thursday.
Sophomore Maria Castano was named WAC Player of the Year while freshman Aya Ishii earned the conference’s Freshman of the Year honor. Head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron was named the WAC Coach of the Year.
Castano and Ishii earned spots on the All-WAC First Team with seniors Emma Persson and Ximena Morales and freshman Marissa Minetti. Ishii and Minetti were named All-WAC First Team in doubles while Persson and Morales earned All-WAC Second Team honors in doubles.
Tarleton State won the 2026 WAC Tournament without giving up an opposing point. The 4-0 win in the championship match against in-state rival Abilene Christian gave Tarleton State Athletics its fourth conference tournament title at the Division I level. Tarleton State’s title locked up an NCAA Tournament ticket, the program’s first Division I appearance and first bid since its 2017 at-large bid as a Division II program.
The Texans won over 75 percent of its matches in both singles and doubles play, combining for 88 singles wins and 46 doubles wins in 2026. It is the most singles and doubles wins in a season since the Texans transitioned into Division I.
Castano is the second player in the Division I era to earn WAC Player of the Year honors. After being named the 2025 WAC Freshman of the Year, Castano continued the momentum in the fall of her sophomore campaign. She won the singles title as the No. 1 seed at the WAC Fall Tennis Invitational, qualifying for the ITA Conference Masters Championships in San Diego. Castano, the Texans’ leader in singles and doubles wins last year, also advanced to the Round of 32 in the singles main draw at the ITA Texas Regional Championships.
As the Texans’ No. 1 singles player in 2026, Castano went 10-5 in singles on Court 1. She also compiled a 15-4 doubles record.
Ishii, the third Tarleton State freshman in the last four years to earn the WAC’s top freshman honor, has been key during Tarleton State’s historic season. Ishii, who leads the Texans in singles wins with an 18-3 record, clinched the deciding point in both of Tarleton State’s WAC Tournament matches. The freshman from Japan began her collegiate career by winning the WAC Fall Invitational Doubles Title with Castano, advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA Conference Masters Championship to give the Texans their first victory in the event.
Douglas-Miron was named WAC Coach of the Year for the second time as the Texans’ leader. Turning Tarleton State into a winning program, Douglas-Miron led the Texans to its first conference tournament title in program history. The Texans’ play in the WAC Tournament allowed them to pick up four WAC All-Tournament Team awards and sweep the conference’s weekly awards five times. Tarleton State also earned 14 weekly awards from the conference in 2026. Douglas-Miron also picked up her 100th career win as a head coach in the WAC Championship match.
Morales was named the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player following Tarleton State’s first conference tournament title. Morales, who also earned a spot on the All-WAC Tournament Team, finished singles play unbeaten in the conference tournament with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 victories. Morales has a 17-3 singles record and a 16-5 doubles mark in 2026.
Persson, the 2023 WAC Player and Freshman of the Year, earned four WAC weekly awards in 2026. This is her second All-WAC First Team honor of her career, earning an All-WAC honor in three of her four years at Tarleton State. The senior from Sweden won 11 singles matches and combined for a 17-6 doubles record.
In her first spring of college tennis, Minetti posted a 10-2 singles record, a 13-5 doubles record and won a combined five weekly awards from the WAC. She ended her spring season by winning five of her last six singles matches. Minetti also finished the fall nationally ranked by the ITA at No. 111.
Under Douglas-Miron in six years at the Division I level, Tarleton State has won two WAC Coach of the Year and Player of the Year awards to go with the WAC Freshman of the Year award three times. The Texans have also claimed 25 All-Conference honors (13 Singles All-WAC First Team, two Doubles All-WAC First Team, seven Singles All-WAC Second Team, three Doubles All-WAC Second Team). The Texans have also earned 66 midseason monthly or weekly awards.
Tarleton State will make its Division I NCAA Tournament debut on Saturday at 1 p.m. No. 9 seed Texas at the Texas Tennis Center. Live scoring (Sidearm) and live video (PlaySight) will be available through Texas Athletics.
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