Oct. 20, 2014 By Hannah Altheide | UTMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington men's tennis team concluded a tough weekend of play at the ITA Regional Tournament hosted at the Mitchell Tennis Center at Texas A&M in College Station.
The team faced tough competition in the opening rounds of the tournament, as Johnathan Gonzalez and Sebastian Erimicioiu were the only Mavericks to win their first matches.
Gonzalez defeated University of Incarnate Word's Tucker Brown 6-0, 6-4, in the opening round and went on to play Guillermo Nunez of TCU. UT Arlington coach Diego Benitez called it a "dog fight," as Gonzalez lost the match 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8).
"It was one of the best matches I have every seen Johnny play," Benitez said. "I was very impressed by the high level he played at throughout the match."
After receiving a bye in round one Erimicioiu made it to round 32 of the singles main draw defeating Texas A&M's Jett Cash 6-3, 6-1. He then came up short against Texas Tech's Felipe Soares 7-5, 7-6. Although the Maverick's only had two players win their opening matches, Daniel Armengol found some rhythm in the back draw making it to the quarterfinals after defeating UT Pan American's Juan Cruz-Soria 6-7 (5), 3-6 (7).
"Although we struggled in the beginning I was content with the way we played and competed throughout the tournament," Benitez said. "We didn't give up and I saw some good things throughout the matches."
The Mavericks will have two weeks to prepare mentally and physically for the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational in Fort Myers, Fla. This tournament will conclude their fall season.
