AUSTIN – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis program is ready to take on the Tarleton Texans Sunday at 6 p.m. at Austin Tennis Academy.
 
Last Time Out
 
UTRGV snapped its seven-match skid Thursday with a 5-2 win over UT Permian Basin.
 
The Vaqueros controlled the match from the opening matches, sweeping all three doubles courts with emphatic victories. On court two, the duo of sophomore Mariia Bakhtina and junior Hitakamya Narwal earned a dominant 6-0 win. UTRGV clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 win from sophomore Luna Buijtenhuijs and senior Yaiza Vazquez on court three.
 
Meanwhile, on court one, the duo of junior Rhea Makesar and graduate student Barbara Martinez earned a 6-2 win to solidify the sweep.
 
In singles play, Martinez cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court one to give the Vaqueros a 2-0 lead.
 
UTRGV clinched the match with back-to-back wins on courts four and five. After a dominant 6-0 win in the first set, Bakhtina battled to a 6-4 win in the second on court four. Minutes later, senior Valentina Urraco dominated with a 6-1, 6-3 win on court five.
 
On court three, the final match of the day, junior Rhea Makesar went to the deciding 10-point tiebreaker. Makesar won the first 6-2 before dropping the second 6-2 to set up the endcap. Makesar and her opponent, Sophia Rashid switched sides of the court at 3-3 and 7-5 before Makesar flipped the switch, winning three of the final four points to secure the 10-6 victory.
 
Scouting the Texans
 
The Vaqueros will face the Texans, a former conference foe, at 6 p.m. Sunday at Austin Tennis Academy. UTRGV last played Tarleton in 2024, as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), a 6-1 win for the Texans in Edinburg. UTRGV is 0-6 all-time against Tarleton.
 
Tarleton, a member of the WAC, is 8-5 on the year with wins over multiple Southland Conference opponents. The Texans have earned a 4-1 win over McNeese, a 7-0 win over Incarnate Word, and a 4-0 win over Northwestern State.
 
The Texans are led by Aya Ishii who has amassed a 10-2 record in singles play, which includes a 3-1 record on court one and a 7-1 record on court two. Eight of the nine Texans on the roster have a winning record in singles.
 
In doubles, the Texans hang their hat on court two, earning a 9-3 record across four separate doubles teams. Tarleton has also amassed winning records of 6-5 and 5-4 on courts one and three, respectively.
 
Meanwhile, the Vaqueros are led by Buijtenhuijs and Makesar who each have a team-high four wins on the season. Makesar has picked up wins on courts two, three, and four this season while Buijtenhuijs has earned wins on courts three, four, and five.
 
In doubles, the duo of Bakhtina and Narwal have generated the best record, 3-2, with a 1-0 record on court two and 2-2 record on court three.

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