Women's Tennis | 3/27/2024 11:30:00 AM

(St. George, Utah – March 27, 2024) - The Trailblazers head out on the road this weekend to face Tarleton and Abilene Christian in Texas.

Who | Utah Tech (5-10, 0-2 WAC) at Tarleton (11-2, 0-0 WAC)
When | Thursday, March 28 / 10 a.m.
Where | Tarleton Tennis Facility – Stephenville, Texas
Follow | Watch | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

Who | Utah Tech (5-10, 0-2 WAC) at Abilene Christian (5-9, 2-0 WAC)
When | Saturday, March 30 / 10 a.m.
Where | John T.L. Jones Tennis Building – Abilene, Texas
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

A GLANCE AT THE TARLETON STATE TEXANS
Tarleton is off to a hot start to the season sporting an 11-2 overall record coming off a pair of WAC victories on the road at UTRGV and UT Arlington last weekend.

The Texans are 5-1 at home with wins over Cowley College, Collin College, Oral Roberts, Prairie View A&M and UTSA while falling to North Texas.

Tarleton went 17-7 overall in 2023 with a 7-2 WAC record tying for the regular season crown with UTRGV.

The Texans defeated Seattle and New Mexico State at the WAC Tournament before seeing their season ended against Grand Canyon.

The Trailblazers have dropped all three matches against Tarleton as members of the WAC. Tarleton swept the Blazers in St. George last season in straight sets with UT falling 7-0 in 2022 and 6-1 in 2021.

Junior Noelia Lorca is 12-1 at number three through five singles with an 8-0 mark at number five singles. 

On the doubles side, junior Maretha Burger and senior Martha Makantasi are 9-3 at number one doubles while Lorca and Emma Persson are 8-1 at number three doubles.

A GLANCE AT THE ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS
Abilene Christian is 5-9 on the season with a 2-0 record in the WAC after road wins at UT Arlington and UTRGV winning both pair of matches, 4-3.

ACU is 3-0 at home this season with wins over Dallas Baptist, UT Permain Basin and Sam Houston.

The Wildcats went 11-13 in 2023 with a 5-4 mark in the WAC with wins over Sam Houston, Tarleton, New Mexico State, Utah Tech and Seattle.

Andrea Guerrero is 8-5 in duals with a 6-4 mark at number five singles. On the doubles side, Guerrero and Olivia Sears are 3-1 at number three.

The Wildcats topped the Trailblazers, 5-2 in St. George last season in their first meeting as WAC opponents.

LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers battled through the elements on Sunday against Stephen F. Austin dropping a heartbreaker to the Ladyjacks, 4-3.

Utah Tech won the doubles point with wins at both number two (Ya-Chi Hsu/ Ana Gutierrez Sampere) and number three (Olivia Bustos/Adithi Venkatakrishnan) taking a 1-0 lead.

Moving on to singles, Bustos earned a win at number six singles, 6-1, 6-2, before the Ladyjacks earned wins at number one, two and five singles for a 3-2 lead.

Coming down to the third and fourth singles, midway through those two matches, rain started coming down heavier forcing a lengthy delay and a change in venue.

Getting back at it at Pine View Park, Rachel Mellor pulled out a 7-5, 7-5 win at number four singles to tie the match at three.

Coming down to number three singles Mariana Zurita fell 7-6, 7-5 to Jemma Cave.

SINGLES & DOUBLES WIN LEADERS
On the singles side, Mellor is 7-7 overall, including a 4-0 mark at number three singles.

Fellow senior Hsu is 5-9 overall in singles with a 4-5 record at number four singles.

Flipping over to doubles, Mellor and Zurita are 5-10 as a pairing overall with a 4-10 mark at number one doubles.

2024 ROSTER
The 2023-24 roster consists of 11 student-athletes with four freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and three seniors.

The Trailblazers return six student-athletes from last year while welcoming four freshmen and one junior college transfer in Laura Coulome.

Seven Trailblazers are from outside of the United States while four Blazers hail from the United States.

HEAD COACH ERIC PELTON
Eric Pelton is in his 18th season as the head coach of the Utah Tech women's tennis program in 2024.

Utah Tech has racked up 103 wins over his 18 seasons leading the Trailblazers and helped lead then-Dixie State to a career-high 13 wins in 2018-19 and added six more in the COVID-19 shortened season of 2019-20.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers stay in Texas next week to take on UT Dallas (3-4) on Tuesday and UT Arlington (10-6, 0-2 WAC) on Wednesday.