By Hannah Altheide | UTAMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - The UTA men's and women's tennis team had a very successful week of matches, bringing back three wins along with a hard-fought loss to the No. 18 Texas A&M women's team.
WT: UTA vs No. 18 Texas A&M
The women began the week of matches Thursday at College Station to take on the Aggies. Throughout the grueling match the Mavericks looked to take the lead, but fell short on a couple of courts.
Astrid Gehre beat No. 57 Rutuja Bhosale in dual play 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, which allowed the Mavs to gain some momentum. Angeles de los Rios and Elizabeth Thoms later beat the No. 32 doubles pairing of Ines Deheza and Rachel Pierson 6-3 to give the Mavs the only doubles win of the day.
"I was very proud of the way the women competed," UTA coach Diego Benitez said. "Texas A&M is a very good team and we stuck with them throughout the match, we played at a very high level and I am happy with how we fought."
MT: UTA vs UTSA
The men took on UTSA Friday afternoon for a battle both teams have been looking forward too since the schedule was released. The rivalry is one that Benitez has especially enjoyed since he has been the head coach for the Mavs. He says this is the one match him and the team really look forward too.
The men were down 3-0 after three matches before mounting a comeback. Mario Muniesa battled back and took his match over Christian Carrillo 7-5, 7-6, 7-5. Shortly after Johnathan Gonzalez defeated Tito Moreiras 6-4, 7-5, and Carlos Arbiza fought back from being down 1-6 to win the next two sets 6-2, 7-5. Daniel Armengol clinched the win for the Mavs when he defeated Diogo Casa 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
"One of the biggest matches I have ever been a part of," Benitez said. "UTSA is a really good team, they beat Rice, so the way that we handled the pressure and came back to grab the victory was amazing."
WT: UTA vs Texas-Pan American
The women took on Texas-Pan American Saturday morning at UTSA tennis courts and proved that they were stronger than ever despite the loss to Texas A&M. Sweeping UTPA, 7-0, the Mavs are now 6-2 on the season.
Thoms and Gehre paired up in the No. 1 doubles slot and defeated Dominique Esparza and Christel Amsallem 6-1 to start the day off right. Shortly after winning the doubles point, the Mavs once again dominated in dual play, winning on every court in two sets.
MT: UTA vs Southern Miss
The men finished off the weekend with a match against Southern Mississippi at the UTSA Tennis Center and won 4-3.
After losing the doubles point, the Mavs battled back and put four singles on the board starting with Gonzalez's win over Alex Doleac 6-1, 6-0. After winning three more matches, the Mavs clinched the overall match and walked away with a victory.
"The boys had a really good weekend and I am very happy with how they played with confidence," Benitez said. "We showed that we can battle with the best and I think we played at a great level of tennis."
The women were scheduled to take on UTSA Sunday morning, but due to bad weather the match was cancelled and will be rescheduled for a later date in the season.
