Mavericks Open SLC Tournament This Weekend
4/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 23, 2010
Arlington, Texas - After a successful regular season for the men's and women's tennis teams, their attention and focus will now be towards winning the 2010 Southland Conference Tournament this weekend at the HEB Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The women begin tournament action Friday morning as the No. 2 seed and as last year's defending champions. The Mavs finished the regular season with a 10-1 conference record and lone loss came against SLC champions Northwestern State.
UTA and Northwestern State faced each other in the final conference game of the season both holding onto a perfect 10-0 mark. The Lady Demons escaped with a 6-1 win at the UTA Tennis Center. Despite the 6-1 score, the Mavericks held Northwestern State close in every flight. First Team All-SLC singles player Daiana Negreanu was the only UTA player to record a win.
The opening round of the SLC Tournament has the Mavericks facing No. 7 seed Southeastern Louisiana Friday at 9:30 a.m. UTA earned a 6-1 win over the Lady Lions earlier in the season.
"The women head into the SLC Tournament as the defending champions and I think they are well rested and healthier," said Head Coach Diego Benitez. "I think we have a really good chance to win it."
After winning their last four matches, the men enter the SLC Tournament as the No. 1 seed with the momentum in their favor. The Mavericks ended the regular season as Southland Conference Champions after recording a 4-1 mark in league action.
"We have a lot of confidence heading into the tournament. I think we are the best team in the tournament but at the same time we know we have to take one match at a time. Our main goal is to keep our season going by winning the conference tournament and then prepare for the regional tournament," added Benitez.
The Mavs final two conference matches were played in one day where UTA defeated both UTSA and UTPA 4-3. The victory over UTSA came down to the No. 1 singles flight were senior captain Dmitry Minkin notched a three-set win.
"Everyone looks up to Dmitry-the senior captain. He knew that he couldn't lose that match and played the best tennis that he had ever played," said Benitez.
UT Arlington opens the tournament Saturday at noon playing the winner of No. 4 UTPA and No. 5 Lamar.
The last time the Mavericks were crowned SLC Tournament champions was in 2006 when they defeated UTSA 4-2. UTA leads the conference earning eight regular season and six tournament titles.
