March 30, 2003

ARLINGTON, Texas...The University of Texas at Arlington's men's tennis team defeated Texas-Pan American 5-2 to clinch the Southland Conference regular season title outright Sunday afternoon. The win over the Broncs, a member of the SLC in men's tennis only, gave the Mavericks their sixth regular season SLC crown in the past nine years. UTA improved to 10-5 overall and ran the table in the SLC, going 5-0 in league action.

The Mavericks won the doubles to go ahead 1-0. UTA's Nathan McGregor and Sandy Farquharson defeated Tom Mangelschots and Filip Koziell 8-4 in the No. 1 doubles match and David Corrie and Niels Buksik of UTA teamed to defeat Matt Gower and Nik Porter 8-0. Texas-Pan American did get a doubles victory when Oliver Steil and Jeremy Salvo defeated the Mavericks' Javier Carrillo and Alon Goldshuv 8-4 in the third position.

With a 1-0 lead in hand, UTA needed to win three singles matches. Things started well, as Carrillo quickly defeated Gower 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 3 position. Then Farquharson handed Steil a 6-4, 6-2 loss to give the Mavericks a 3-0 lead and put them within one point of the championship. Just as Farquharson was walking off the court after his win, McGregor finished off a come-from-behind 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles to clinch the Mavericks' title. But the Broncs' never stopped playing and won two of the three remaining matches. First Salvo won a close 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 decision over Buksik at No. 4. The next match to finish came in the No. 6 position, where UTA's Ian Vazquez came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The final match of the day to finish was probably the most exciting, if anticlimactic due to the team result having already been decided. On the No. 2 court, UTA's Corrie won the first 7-6. But Koziell fought back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to win 7-6 before winning a thrilling tie-breaker set 11-9 to win that match.

UTA is scheduled to play five non-conference matches before hosting the SLC Tournament April 25-27 at the UTA Tennis Center. The Mavericks' next match is scheduled for April 11 at Wichita State.

Singles:
1. Nathan McGregor (UTA) def. Tom Mangelschots (UTPA) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. Filip Koziell (UTPA) def. David Corrie (UTA) 6-7, 7-6, 11-9
3. Javier Carrillo (UTA) def. Matt Gower (UTPA) 6-1, 6-0
4. Jeremy Salvo (UTPA) def. Niels Buksik (UTA) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. Sandy Farquharson (UTA) def. Oliver Steil (UTPA) 6-4, 6-2
6. Ian Vazquez (UTA) def. Nik Porter (UTPA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles:
1. McGregor/Farquharson (UTA) def. Mangelschots/Koziell (UTPA) 8-5
2. Corrie/Buksik (UTA) def. Gower/Porter (UTPA) 8-0
3. Salvo/Steil (UTPA) def. Carrillo/Goldshuv (UTA) 8-4