STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State Tennis earned both Singles and Doubles Players of the Week honors from the WAC for the third time in 2026, with senior Emma Persson (Singles) and freshmen Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti (Doubles) picking up the conference’s award this week.
Persson was named WAC Singles Player of the Week for the first time in 2026, picking up her fourth career singles weekly award from the WAC. Ishii and Minetti won their third WAC Doubles Team of the Week award of the season together.
The award increased the Texans’ midseason monthly/weekly award total at the Division I level to 61 under head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron.
Persson was the Texans’ top singles player and led the team to a pair of victories on the road at UTA and against UTRGV in Austin. Her straight sets singles win on Court 3 clinched the match for the Texans on Sunday against UTRGV, giving Tarleton State its 10th win of the season. Sunday’s win also gave her 32 career singles victories.
After earning WAC Player and Freshman of the Year honors in 2023, Persson has been a versatile force for the Texans in both singles and doubles. The 2023 ITA Scholar Athlete earned spots on the All-WAC Second Team for Doubles in 2025 and was named to the All-WAC Tournament Team for Doubles in 2023. Persson has also advanced to the singles main draw of the ITA Texas Regional Championships in two straight seasons, including a Round of 16 appearance in 2024.
Ishii and Minetti helped the Texans clinch the doubles point in both their matches last weekend, leading to a pair of wins. The freshmen duo picked up their ninth win as a team last weekend, moving their doubles record to 9-3. Ishii won her 10th doubles match of the season while Minetti picked up her ninth in 2026.
After clinching the WAC Fall Invitational doubles title and qualifying for the ITA Conference Masters Championship, Ishii and sophomore Maria Castano advanced to the round of 16 in doubles in the ITA’s event. The victory marked the first win in singles or doubles for the Texans at the ITA Conference Masters Championship. Ishii currently leads the team in singles wins this spring with six after finishing fall with a 7-1 singles record. The first Japanese player in Tarleton State’s Division I era posted a top 20 ranking both in singles and doubles while representing Urawareimei High School.
Minetti has had a strong start in her first collegiate season, going unbeaten in September and finishing fall nationally ranked No. 111 by the ITA. The freshman won the Flight F singles draw of the ACU Classic Arriving in Stephenville as the first Texan in the Division I era from Finland, Minetti finished second in the U21 National Championship and had a third-place finish at the Women’s Finnish Championship.
The Texans are off from action for Spring Break, returning to the courts on Saturday, March 28 for a doubleheader against Montana and Utah Tech in St. George.
Tarleton State WAC Weekly Honors
Singles Player of the Week
Emma Persson (March 17)
Aya Ishii (March 10)
Ximena Morales (March 3)
Aya Ishii (Feb. 10)
Marissa Minetti (Jan. 20)
Doubles Team of the Week
Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti (March 17)
Ximena Morales and Emma Persson (March 10)
Aya Ishii and Emma Persson (Feb. 24)
Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti (Feb. 17)
Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti (Feb. 10)
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