March 19, 2015

Final Stats

By Hannah Altheide | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington men's tennis team won its third straight match Thursday afternoon against Texas-Pan American at the UTA Tennis Center 4-2. This win brings the No. 63 Mavericks' overall record to 9-4.

"It was a great win," UTA coach Diego Benitez said. "Coming off the road weekend it was great to get a win at home in front of a great crowd. We had a lot of support today and it was just what we needed.

The Mavs did not get off to a great start after losing the doubles point. However, the men fought back and dominated dual play.

Led by Sun Belt Player of the Week Mario Muniesa, he picked up the first victory of the day defeating UTPA's Elliot Johnstone 6-0, 6-0. Muniesa was followed up with wins by teammates Daniel Armengol (6-1, 6-2) and Carlos Arbiza (6-1, 6-5).

"We lost the doubles point against a good team, but we were able to stay focused and determined going into dual play," Benitez said. "We trusted in our singles play and there was no doubt in our guys that we were going to go back in singles and put points on the board."

The Mavericks finished out the day with four dual victories.

"Were still taking it one step at a time, this is all a process taking us into the right direction so when we go down to New Orleans we will have reached the pinnacle stage of our momentum in hopes that way we can put together three good matches and take the championship," Benitez said.

Benitez believes his team is finally playing with confidence and is proud of their determination throughout the season. The Mavs head to Fort Worth on Saturday to take on TCU at 6 p.m.

"TCU is highly ranked and this is exactly what we needed going into playing them," Benitez said. "We have won three great matches and we get to go in there with momentum and no pressure."

Live scoring will be available at TCU.StatBroadcast.com for Saturday's match.