WT: Mavs battle through weather at ITA Regionals
10/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike
COLLEGE STATION - Mother Nature played her part in the ITA Texas Regionals, but despite the weather, UT Arlington women's tennis still battled in the biggest competition of the fall schedule.
The tournament found itself delayed several times during the early rounds of competition. Elizabeth Thoms was able to advance into the Round of 32 with two wins, while Jessica Birowski and Valeria Lopez had UTA's best success in the doubles side, advancing into the Round of 16.
"We had a lot of good aspects during the weekend," UT Arlington coach Diego Benitez said. "We are going to keep playing and going hard and get ready for the spring."
Thoms won her opening match 6-2, 6-0 over Texas State's Ana Perez before downing Emily Smith from Rice 6-2, 6-4. Thoms dropped a close third round match to SMU's Vaszilisza Bulkove 3-6, 6-2, 10-7, playing a hybrid 10-point third set due to the weather. Angeles de los Rios as Birowski each won their opening round matchups.
"I am happy about (Elizabeth), she beat a really good girl and a really good junior that is highly ranked in the world," Benitez said. "It was good to see she was ready for the competition."
In doubles, Birowski and Lopez picked up a 6-0 win over a team from North Texas before falling to the third-seeded team from Texas.
"We didn't play our best doubles, but we played very well with Jessica and Valeria," Benitez said. "They won against a good team from UNT. We played a very good team versus Texas and it was a little more of a challenge."
Agustina Serio was able to bounce back from an opening-round loss to advance through the consolation bracket. Serio defeated Joy Ming Chia from Texas State before rain halted play and cancelled the consolation competition.
The Mavericks wrap up their fall schedule at the Wild West Shootout hosted by North Texas beginning on Nov. 6.
