Tarleton State Tennis sweeps WAC weekly awards for fourth time

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Tennis picked up its fourth WAC weekly awards sweep, winning both the Singles and Doubles Players of the Week on Tuesday.

Sophomore Maria Castano was named WAC Singles Player of the Week for the first time in 2026, picking up her second career singles weekly award from the WAC. Freshmen Aya Ishii and Marissa Minetti won their fourth 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 63 under head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron.

Castano did not lose a set en route to leading the Texans to a pair of 7-0 wins over Montana and at Utah Tech on Saturday. She won her seventh singles match on Saturday, winning her third in a row. The sophomore from Dominican Republic extended the Texans' win streak to five and also helped the Texans win 24 straight points to date.

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.

Ishii and Minetti helped the Texans clinch the doubles point for the seventh straight time last weekend. They picked up their 12th win as a doubles duo, moving their doubles record to 12-3. Ishii won her 13th doubles match of the season while Minetti picked up her 12th in 2026.

After clinching the WAC Fall Invitational doubles title and qualifying for the ITA Conference Masters Championship, Ishii and 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 return to the courts on Wednesday at 3 p.m. to take on Tyler JC in Tyler, Texas.

Tarleton State WAC Weekly Honors

Singles Player of the Week

Maria Castano (March 31)

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 31)

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)

Players Mentioned

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