STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Saturday will mark the regular season finale for Tarleton Tennis, a big match for WAC Tournament seeding and a big match featuring rival programs. But it's also a big match for celebratory reasons, as the Texans will honor their two seniors who have done wonders for the program, Elsa Boisson and Martha Makantasi.
 
"Back in the spring of 2020, I set out to build a team that could compete at the D1 level right away," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "I knew we would have many challenges along the way, but with the right people, we could find solutions and compete at a high level. I got this and much more with Martha and Elsa.
 
"Martha and Elsa have been two of the most successful tennis players Tarleton has ever seen," Douglas-Miron continued. "Both 4.0 students in their fields of study, Math and Engineering, their work ethic on and off the court has been next to none. They have built our team culture, stopping at nothing to ensure we were successful as a team. They pushed their teammates, they pushed each other, and they have definitely Bled Purple along the way. I am so proud of all of their accomplishments and can't wait to see what is next for them!"
 
Boisson and Makantasi have each shined for the Texans across their four seasons with the team. Boisson owns an all-time singles record of 51-23 and an all-time doubles record of 42-31, while Makantasi has an all-time singles record of 57-20 and an all-time doubles record of 47-29. Both have earned countless awards, and virtually all of the academic awards possible.
 
As far Saturday's match itself goes, which starts at 1 p.m. at the Tarleton Tennis Facility, the Texans enter the regular season finale 14-3 overall and 5-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. With a win, they will clinch the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament and still have a chance at a share of the WAC regular season championship. If Tarleton wins Saturday, then Grand Canyon would need to lose on Sunday against UT Arlington for the Texans and Lopes to share the WAC regular season title.
 
The Lopes just snapped Tarleton's five-match winning streak on Sunday in Phoenix, dealing them a rare conference loss. The Texans are 22-4 in WAC play since joining the conference in 2020-21.
 
They could make it 23-4 on Saturday, with the Texans hosting Abilene Christian. The Wildcats are 7-11 overall and 4-2 in WAC play, currently tied-third in the standings with UTA. If ACU wins Saturday, they will clinch the No. 2 seed, regardless of UTA's result against GCU. Tarleton would then be the No. 3 seed and UTA No. 4. If Tarleton wins Saturday, then ACU could land anywhere from seeds 3-5, along with UTA and Seattle U.
 
Tarleton State and ACU have played a pair of thrillers over the past two seasons, both matches happening in Abilene. Last year the Wildcats won 5-2, thanks to a narrow doubles point win 2-1 with the Court 1 match 7-5 ACU, and three singles matches going three sets, with ACU winning two of those. In 2021-22, the Texans finished their perfect WAC season with a 4-3 win in the season finale, with a classic three-set match on the top court played between Deniza Marcinkevica and Maryjoe Crisologo, which Tarleton's Marcinkevica won 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6 (10-8).
 
This will be the first time ACU heads to Stephenville since 2013.
 
After Saturday, the Texans will travel to Harlingen, Texas, for the WAC Tournament, which will be played out Thursday-Saturday. If the Texans are the No. 2 seed, they'll start their run against the No. 7 seed on Thursday at 3 p.m. If the Texans are the No. 3 seed, they'll begin their WAC Tournament slate against the No. 6 seed, also at 3 p.m.
 
Admission is free Saturday. For those unable to attend in-person, the match will be broadcast on WAC International, found here. Live scoring can be found here.