May 17, 2006
ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Texas at Arlington named Diego Benitez as its new head tennis coach on Wednesday.
Benitez served as an assistant coach for the last three seasons and worked primarily with the men's team. Benitez guided the Mavericks to their first Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles in three years. Texas-Arlington tied for first in the SLC with TAMU-Corpus Christi and Southeastern Louisiana, and finished with an overall record of 13-7. The Mavericks fell to 16-seed Texas A&M, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I am very honored and proud to be the head coach at this university," Benitez said. "I am excited about the challenges that come with the job. I will try to continue the winning legacy this program has. We are going to set the bar even higher next season."
In his three seasons working with the men's team, Benitez has compiled a 37-28 record, which included a 14-2 record in conference play.
The Caracus, Venezuela native was also and assistant coach at Texas Wesleyan in the 1999-00 season, before taking over as head coach for the 2000-01 season. He also was a volunteer assistant coach at TCU in 2001.
"During his brief tenure here at UT Arlington, Diego Benitez has demonstrated his outstanding capabilities as a tennis coach and as an exceptional administrator for our men's and women's tennis program," UT Arlington athletic director Pete Carlon said. "We are thrilled that he has accepted our offer to become our head men's and women's tennis coach and Tennis Center director. We are confident he will provide the leadership, which will continue UT Arlington's great tradition of success with our intercollegiate tennis programs."
As a player, Benitez was a four-year letterwinner at Texas Wesleyan where he helped lead the team to one national tournament and two regional tournament appearances.
Prior to coming to the United States, Benitez competed on the South America-Europe International Tennis Federation Circuit for three years. Benitez was among the top-20 nationally ranked singles players in his native country.
