April 17, 2011
Thibodaux, La. - The perfect conference season for the UT Arlington women's tennis team was accomplished Sunday afternoon with a 7-0 shutout victory at Nicholls State. The No. 62 Mavericks were crowned the Southland Conference Regular Season champions for the second time in three years.
UTA closed out the regular season with a 17-4 overall record and an unblemished 11-0 conference mark.
"I am extremely proud of our girls," said head coach Diego Benitez. "Winning the SLC merit but doing it in an undefeated way is amazing. These girls have only dropped one match in three years going 32-1 and that is an amazing statistic."
"We are glad to be named SLC Regular Season champs but there is a lot of tennis to be played and more objectives to achieve. This group is ready and eager to keep performing at a top level," said Benitez.
As head coach of the Mavericks, Benitez has guided the women to two SLC regular season titles, a SLC Tournament title and a 32-1 record in his last three seasons.
The No. 62 Mavericks dominance throughout its competition in the conference came out in full force Sunday afternoon as they once again shutout their opponent in grand fashion.
UTA recorded three consecutive 7-0 victories in their last three league matches.
Against the Colonels, the Mavs easily won the doubles point and all six singles flights. In the top flight, Linda Aqvist and Daiana Negreanu handed Florina Nosca and Marina Ljoshevska handed an 8-2 loss. The duo closed out the conference season with an 8-1 record.
Maria Martinez and Nikola Matovicova won an 8-4 victory over Natalia Zamora and Sumana Kalyanasundaram in the No. 2 position. Together the tandem recorded a 16-2 overall and 11-0 league record.
Giada D'ortona and Natalia Mayuk defeated Tatiana Denezhkina and Melissa Harrison in the No. 3 spot with an 8-3 decision. The duo finished conference with a perfect 9-0 conference mark.
In the top singles flight, Negreanu won a 6-0, 6-0 decision against Nosca while Aqvist handed Zamora a 7-6, 6-2 loss in the No. 2 position.
Martinez-Romero recorded a 6-2, 6-1 decision against Kalyanasundaram in the No. 3 position while Mayuk won a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Denezhkina in the No. 4 flight.
Katarina Mlcochova won a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Ljoshevska in the No. 5 spot while D'ortona handed Harrison a 6-0, 6-0 loss in No. 6 flight.
"It was a great way to finish out the best season UTA has had in recent years," said assistant coach Marco Matteuci. "We didn't drop a match all weekend and the girls deserve everything they achieved this year.
The Mavericks will now prepare for the SLC Tournament scheduled to begin Friday, April 29 in San Antonio, Texas. UTA enters as the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
