By: Grant Cohen, Tarleton State Athletics

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Tennis will travel to Austin to take on No. 9 overall seed Texas on Saturday in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the NCAA Selection Show revealed on Monday. 

The Texans, the Western Athletic Conference champions, will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I program. Tarleton State last made the NCAA Tournament in 2017, receiving an at-large bid to the Big Dance as a Division II program. Tennis is the fourth athletic program at Tarleton State to qualify for NCAA postseason competition in the Division I era (Football, Track & Field, Women's Golf). 

As the No. 1 seed in the 2026 WAC Tournament, the Texans did not give up an opposing point en route to the title. The 4-0 win in the championship match against in-state rival Abilene Christian gave Tarleton State Athletics its fourth conference tournament title at the Division I level (Baseball - 2024, Women's Golf - 2025, Women's Indoor Track & Field - 2026). 

Tarleton State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 17-7 overall record, including an 8-1 record in Stephenville. The Texans won over 75 percent of its matches in both singles and doubles play, combining for 88 singles wins and 46 doubles wins. It is the most singles and doubles wins in a season since the Texans transitioned into Division I. 

Their play allowed the Texans to pick up four WAC All-Tournament Team awards and sweep the conference's weekly awards five times. Tarleton State earned 14 weekly awards from the conference in 2026, increasing the Texans' midseason monthly/weekly award total at the Division I level to 66 under head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron.

Senior Ximena Morales was named the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player following Tarleton State's first conference tournament title. Morales, who also earned a spot on the All-WAC Tournament Team, finished singles play unbeaten in the conference tournament with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 victories. Morales has a 17-3 singles record and a 16-5 doubles mark in 2026. 

Morales is just one of three seniors to anchor the Texans in 2026, with Adeliya Mukhutdinova, Emma Persson and Clara Sobius also part of the historic class. Mukhutdinova was named to the All-WAC Tournament Team after being an All-WAC Second Team selection last year. Persson, the 2023 WAC Player and Freshman of the Year, earned four WAC weekly awards in 2026. Sobius is a two-time WAC All-Tournament Team selection. 

In addition to the seniors leading the way, freshman Aya Ishii has been key during Tarleton State's historic season. Ishii, who leads the Texans in singles wins with an 18-3 record, clinched the deciding point in both of Tarleton State's WAC Tournament matches. The freshman from Japan began her collegiate career by winning the WAC Fall Invitational Doubles Title with sophomore Maria Castano, advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA Conference Masters Championship to give the Texans their first victory in the event. 

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. 

This will be the first meeting between Tarleton State and Texas in women's tennis. The winner will face Yale or Texas Tech in the second round on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center. 

Texas, who is ranked No. 8 nationally, won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and have qualified for the Super Regionals in the NCAA Tournament in five straight years. The Longhorns have alumnae that have played professionally, including 2026 ATX Open winner Peyton Stearns. 

In 2026, 13 of the Longhorns' 17 wins were against nationally-ranked opponents. Texas defeated then defending national champions, Georgia, in the regular season before falling to the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament. Sophomore Carmen Herea qualified as an ITA All-American earlier this fall. 

First serve for Saturday's match is set for 1 p.m. Live scoring (Sidearm) and live video (PlaySight) will be available through Texas Athletics.