Aug. 3, 2010

Arlington, Texas - UT Arlington head men's tennis coach Diego Benitez announced the signing of Erik Hjertonsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), Lucas Leppin (Hamburg, Germany) and Nicolas Moreno (Santa, CA) to a national letters of intent to begin playing for the Mavs in the fall of 2010.

"We are very happy with our incoming players," said both Head Coach Diego Benitez and Assistant Coach Marco Matteucci. "We are very excited for the upcoming season and believe they will fit in well here at UT Arlington and help us go after another southland conference championship."

Hjertonsson joins the Mavericks from Gotenberg, Sweden where he was consistently ranked a top-25 junior in the boys 16's and 18's, reaching as high as No. 12 and No. 3 in his district. He also competed in ITF Junior tournaments in Sweden and achieved a men's national ranking of 102.

Leppin was ranked No. 1 in Germany in the boys 14's then was consistently ranked in the top-10 boys 16's.He achieved a men's national ranking of 230 and won the Northern German Championships in doubles and singles as a junior. Leppin also played in the German 14's Under National Team in the summer and winter cup.

Moreno a native of Santa Clara, CA participated in category 14U and 16U in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. He captured the ITF G5 in doubles in Cali, Colombia and semifinals in ITF G5 in Bogota, Colombia. Moreno was a runner-up at the National "Interstate Team" Tournament in 2010 where he represented the state of "Valle del Cauca". He also was named Athlete of the Year twice (2009, 2010) at "Colegio Aleman-Deutsche Schule Cali".

The newcomers will begin playing with the Mavericks in the fall of 2010.