SAN MAROCS, Texas – Texas State women's tennis split their season-opening doubleheader on Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

"I thought today was a great start to our season." said Texas State women's tennis head coach Kendall Brooks. "First match was a solid start from top to bottom. We took care of all the things we said we wanted to do and I am very happy with how we performed. And I thought we also competed really well against a very tough Oklahoma State team and I am excited to see what this team can do moving forward.

The Bobcats started strong in their first matchup of the day against Southeast Missouri State, winning two of three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. They built on that momentum and swept the first three singles matches to secure a 4-0 victory over SEMO.

Texas State returned to the Greenwood Tennis Center at 5 p.m. to face off against No. 4-ranked Oklahoma State. Despite a strong effort in both the singles and doubles portions of the match, the Bobcats fell to the Cowgirls 4-0 and moved to 1-1 on the year.

This marked the second time since 2019 that the Bobcats have won their first match of the season.

Texas State (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs Southeast Missouri State (0-1, 0-0 Ohio Valley) | 9:00 a.m. | Greenwood Tennis Center

Texas State came ready to play in the first match of the doubleheader. The Bobcats jumped out to a quick lead in doubles play and never looked back. They led in all but one doubles match and were ahead in all six singles matches when they reached the fourth point needed to secure the victory.

Doubles
Newcomer Ireland Simme and junior Emily Niers started the Bobcats off strong, clinching the first doubles point of the morning. The pair, featured on court two, won their match 6-3.

Following the victory on court two, Bobcats Sofia Fortuno and Maria Lora fell just short in their match on court one. Fortuno and Lora were defeated 4-6 by SEMO's Lera Valeeva and Kristina Kozakova.

The doubles point came down to court three, where Texas State's Callie Creath and Kiana Graham faced SEMO's Yontha Tadoum and Claudia Casas. Creath and Graham found themselves in a 5-5 battle but managed to secure a 7-5 victory, earning the Bobcats the doubles point.

This was only the second time during a spring season that Creath and Graham played a doubles match as partners. They are now 2-0 all time.

Singles
In her first spring season with the Bobcats, Simme came out strong and earned the first singles point of the match with a quick 6-0, 6-3 straight-set victory on court six. Soon after, Creath added another point for the Bobcats on court two. Like Simme, she won her match in straight sets, finishing 6-4, 6-2.

The match point came from line four, featuring freshman Bobcat Tadiwa Mauchi. Mauchi found success early in the match and ended her spring debut with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over SEMO's Juliette Demunck.

The matches on courts one, three, and five went unfinished, but the Bobcats were leading in each one when the match was called. Graham was close to securing a victory on court one when play was stopped. She had won the first set 6-4 and was tied 4-4 in the second set against SEMO's Valeeva.

Similarly, Fortuno was nearing her first singles win of the season on court three. She was closing in on a straight-set victory, leading 6-2, 6-5, when the match was called.

Niers, featured on court five, was one point away from earning a straight-set victory. After winning the first set 7-5, she was up 5-0 in the second set when Mauchi clinched the final point for the Bobcats.
 
 
Texas State (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) at #4 Oklahoma State (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) | 5:00 p.m. | Greenwood Tennis Center

Despite coming into the match with a dominating win earlier in the day, Texas State was outmatched in its evening match against No. 4 Oklahoma State. The Bobcats dropped doubles matches on courts one and two, securing the doubles point for the Cowgirls.

OSU went on to win singles matches on courts two, six, and three to complete the 4-0 victory over Texas State.

Doubles
Texas State played with the same doubles pairs as in its morning matchup. The first Bobcat pair to fall was Niers and Simme on court two. Despite winning their doubles match earlier in the day, the pair dropped their match 1-6 to OSU's Kylie Collins and Gracie Epps.

Fortuno and Lora, featured on court one for the second time that day, dropped their match 3-6 against the Cowgirls' Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp. The loss secured the doubles point for OSU. The pair moved to 0-2 on the season after finishing the 2024 season 11-5.

On court three, Creath and Graham were leading 3-2 against Marcela Lopez and Alian Zack from OSU, but the match went unfinished due to the Cowgirls clinching doubles wins on courts one and two.

Singles
OSU took a 2-0 lead after Komar defeated Creath in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, on court two. On court six, freshman Chantajah Mills dropped her first singles match of the season against OSU's Zack, 3-6, 2-6, giving the Cowgirls a 3-0 lead.

The match-clinching point came from court three, where Fortuno faced Epps. Despite her best efforts, Fortuno lost 3-6, 0-6, marking the Cowgirls' fourth point and the end of the match.

The matches on courts one, four, and five went unfinished due to OSU clinching the victory.

On court one, Graham had dropped the first set 2-6 but was tied 3-3 in the second set when play was stopped. Niers, featured on court five, had won earlier in the day but dropped her first set 1-6 in this match. She was in a 2-4 battle in the second set when play was called.

Simme moved up to court four for the second match of the day. She kept it close in both sets but fell 4-6 in the first and was trailing 2-3 in the second when the match was called.

Texas State women's tennis returns to action on Jan. 25, traveling to San Antonio, Texas, to face rival UTSA at 2 p.m.

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