Final Stats

By Hannah Altheide | UTAMavs.com

NEW ORLEANS -- The UT Arlington women's team lost a grueling battle against South Alabama (4-3) in the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon.
 
After losing the doubles point, the Mavs entered dual play down 1-0 with an uphill battle ahead of them. Freshman Augustina Serio got the momentum going for the Mavericks when she defeated Emily Newtown 6-2, 6-4. Serio would be the only UTA player to defeat her opponent in two straight sets.
 
Christine Foote added another win for UTA when she defeated Laura Matuskova (2-6, 7-5, 6-3). After losing the first set, the senior and team leader rallied back to get the second win to put the Mavs up over South Alabama 2-1. The momentum was finally in UTA's favor.
 
"We played extremely hard today on all courts," head coach Diego Benitez said. "We came out strong in doubles, but came up short so we knew we would have to fight our way back. Christine stepped up big time and proved what it means to not only be a senior but a leader as well."
 
After Foote's win, Jessica Birowski fell to Mary Angela Martin 7-5, 7-6, (7-1). Angeles de los Rios was defeated by Monica Mitta 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. The momentum quickly shifted back to South Alabama, up 3-2.
 
Thoms was on Court 1 taking on Laura Valkova in a battle to stay alive. After losing the opening set 3-6, Thoms rallied back to take set two 6-2. The final set was back and forth on games and break points. Thoms went into the seventh game up 6-5 tasked to break the serve and tie it up 3-3. Thoms delivered after three deuces and got the third win for UTA.
 
"Lizzy has been our go-to player all year," Benitez said. "I had no doubt that she would come back from being down in set one to win the match and help us get one step closer to the championship. She is in my opinion the best player in the conference and she proved that this weekend. I could not be more proud of the level of tennis our girls played at today."
 
All eyes were now on court four where Astrid Gehre and Meszarosaova were battling out the final set of the match. Gehre lost the first set 7-5, came back and won set two 6-3, and was up 5-4 once Thoms tied it up.
 
South Alabama fought back to go up 6-5 with Gehre having to break serve in order to tie it up. After a long fight and two deuces, Gehre lost the battle to Meszarosaova 7-5 and the Mavericks fell 4-3.
 
"We hate this feeling and we will be upset over it until next season," Benitez said. "Until then we will continue to work on getting better to bring the Sun Belt Conference Championship to Arlington."