No. 2 Tarleton, No. 4 GCU Advance To 2023 WAC Women's Tennis Championship
ARLINGTON, Texas – Two teams punched their tickets to the women’s tennis Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship match on a beautiful morning filled with competitive tennis Friday at the Arlington Tennis Center.
No. 4 Grand Canyon 4 – No. 1 UT Arlington 2
The fourth-seeded Grand Canyon (GCU) Lopes controlled their semifinal match from the first serve to upset the top-seeded UT Arlington (UTA) Mavericks.
Grand Canyon quickly opened up a 1-0 lead with a strong showing on the doubles courts. Natasha Puehse and Santa Strombacha took a 6-2 win on the first court, and Anali Kocevar and Madeline Lamoreaux secured the doubles point with a good 6-4 win in the No. 2 spot.
The Lopes rode that momentum to take the first set in five of six singles matches. But UT Arlington evened the score with a swift 6-2, 6-2 win on the sixth court by Francisca Vergara.
Grand Canyon got back in the lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win of its own by Strombacha at No. 2. A loud roar rang through the Arlington Tennis Center when the Lopes extended the lead to 3-1 after a solid 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 by Kocevar.
The Mavericks showed great resilience to hold off GCU as long as they could. Sarina Reinertsen claimed an impressive come-from-behind 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory in the No. 3 flight to cut the deficit to 3-2. On the fifth court, Ana Paula Jimenez fought off a clinching opportunity with a strong finish in the second set of a heavyweight match against Lamoreaux, winning in a tiebreaker to force the match to a third set, but it went unfinished.
Puehse was swarmed by teammates with happy tears in their eyes after she cinched GCU’s victory with an impressive 7-5, 6-4 hard-earned win in the No. 1 flight, enduring long rallies and a back-and-forth bout to send her team to the championship match.
No. 2 Tarleton 4 – No. 6 New Mexico State, 1
The No. 2 Tarleton Texans advanced to the championship match with a solid 4-1 win over the defending tournament champions, the No. 2 New Mexico State Aggies.
After the Texans took the first doubles match 6-1 behind a strong effort from Elsa Boisson and Celia Vaudiau, the Aggies turned up the energy as they battled from behind on the first and second doubles courts. NM State’s Anna Pinaieva and Lisa Zhu pushed Tarleton’s Martha Makantasi and Ximena Morales through lengthy rallies to tie the No. 1 bout at 6-all. The Aggies were dynamic in the tiebreaker, delivering precise scoring shots to even the doubles session with a hard-fought 7-6 (7:3) win.
All eyes turned to the third court, where another tight match was brewing. NM State’s Valeriia Ivanovskaia and Dora Kurdi battled from trailing 4-5 to jump on top, 6-5. Then, the Texans duo of Emma Persson and Clara Sobius forced a tiebreaker at 6-all. Tarleton went down early in the seven-point tiebreaker, but Persson/Sobius were strong from the baseline to claw back to a 6-4 lead. NM State answered from the net to knot the points at 6-all, but the Texans nailed two quick points to secure the win and doubles point, 7-6 (8:6).
Pinaieva dominated the No. 1 singles match to earn a 6-1, 6-2 win and tie the overall score. Then Tarleton buckled down and took three consecutive straight-set victories to secure the match victory. Boisson won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 and Vaudiau followed suit with a good 6-3, 6-1 win on the sixth court.
NM State’s Natsuki Nishimura put up a good fight in the second set on the fifth court, but Sobius held strong when her team needed it, taking a 6-0, 7-5 win to clinch the Texans victory.
Saturday’s Championship Match
No. 2 Tarleton vs. No. 4 Grand Canyon, 9 a.m.