Final Stats

By Cassie Logan | @c4ssielogan

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington women's tennis came out swinging with a 7-0 win over Montana State in its spring season opener Friday at the UTA Tennis Center.

UTA is now 1-0 to start the year and the Bobcats dropped their third in a row. The match was the first of a four-game homestand for the Mavericks. The team returns to face Nevada-Reno at 11 a.m. Feb. 13.

"The girls showed off the hard work they've done in practice over the past couple of weeks," UT Arlington coach Diego Benitez said. "Obviously, it's good to get a win in the first match to get all the nerves out and find a rhythm. Overall, it was a pretty solid performance."

The Mavericks dominated in doubles as pairs Angeles de los Rios and Elizabeth Thoms, and Astrid Gehre and Jessica Birowski both picked up 6-2 wins to open the day. Agustina Serio and Valeria Lopez's match was unfinished.

UTA took all of its singles matches in two sets each. Birowski picked up the Mavs' first singles win of the day 6-0, 6-2 and Thoms battled in the final match finished 6-2, 6-2.

In singles play, de los Rios defeated Naomi Holopainen 6-0, 6-1. Gehre fought to protect her first set 6-4 before securing a win in the second 6-1. Serio also tacked on a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

In her first ever collegiate match, Luxizi Meng didn't seem to be bothered by nerves as she downed her opponent 6-0, 6-1 in what Benitez said may have been the best match of the day.

"It's always a little bit tricky with the nerves, but she showed amazing composure and she dominated completely from the beginning," Benitez said. "That's an impressive performance for a freshman in her first semester."