Box Score ARLINGTON, Texas – Following a grind-it-out win over UTRGV in the opening round of the WAC Tournament on Thursday, the Aggies found themselves in need of stellar singles performances again on Friday morning.
While NM State appeared to making a push at shifting the momentum midway through singles action, Tarleton was able to secure the doubles point and three singles victories to defeat the Aggies 4-1 in the semifinals at the Arlington Tennis Center.
DOUBLES
- Following a loss at No. 2, Anna Pinaieva and Lisa Zhu put NM State pulled the Aggies even with a 7-6 (7-3) win at No. 1. Unfortunately, Tarleton's No. 3 duo pulled off a 7-6 (8-6) win to come away with the doubles point in what was one of the tightest doubles points the Aggies have played all season.
SINGLES
- In solo play, freshman Anna Pinaieva staked her claim as one of the elite players in the entire conference as she picked up a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over WAC Player of the Year and WAC Freshman of the Year Emma Persson to even the score at one point apiece. This also marked Pinaieva's second head-to-head win over Persson after defeating the Swedish freshman 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) earlier in the year.
- Despite Pinaieva's win, the Texans quickly regained momentum as they earned wins at No. 3 and No. 6 to move one win away from advancing to the WAC Championship match.
- After falling in the first set, Lisa Zhu bounced back to win her second set and set up a pivotal third set. Meanwhile, Miranda Bishard also appeared to be in line for a win at No. 4 as she defeated Ximena Morales 6-4 in the first set and was leading 5-3 in the second frame. However, before Zhu and Bishard could close their matches, Tarleton was able to tally its fourth point via a win at No. 5 to move themselves into a title match versus Grand Canyon on Saturday morning.
##NM State##
