MT: Freshmen bolster championship team
5/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 10, 2016
By Cassie Logan | @c4ssielogan
ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington freshmen arrived in the fall with years of experience and knowledge about the game of tennis, but lacked one of the most valuable components of collegiate competition: playing on a team.
The upperclassmen knew there would be a learning curve and quickly began preparing the younger players for the season. They learned important lessons in solidarity and work ethic, and freshmen would become dependable facets on what would become a championship team.
"I was expecting them to be disoriented with the way college works, and in some sense they were, but they quickly adapted and understood how the team works," junior Mario Muniesa said.
"Two weeks after they came, they followed us and we told them to run and fight for the person next to you. They believed us and that's how they've been able to play amazingly throughout the season."
It has been a season to remember for the Mavericks, as they are capped a program-record 18 wins with their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006. UTA captured the Sun Belt Conference Championship, its seventh in school history, by upsetting three of the league's top teams.
The Mavs drew No. 11-seed Oklahoma and search for their first NCAA Tournament first-round win on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
What brings the team more confidence this season is realizing that winning a championship is a process and that the team wasn't ready for three years ago, according to senior captain Carlos Arbiza. But what makes them ready now is UTA's camaraderie, and a freshmen class that has made an early impact.
Junior Daniel Armengol understood that when the freshmen were coming from a competitive, individual tennis backgrounds. The upperclassmen had to teach the newcomers that a win or loss doesn't solely depend on one personal match, and to always keep a positive attitude for your teammates playing on the courts nearby.
As the team's captain, Arbiza is given the responsibility of mentoring and enforcing those UTA Tennis ideals. Every practice, every weight room session and 6 a.m. workout, the senior is pushing, encouraging and teaching.
A strong bond that formed out of that mentorship is the relationship between Arbiza and freshman Mauricio Del Rio.
"I led him and showed him what we need to do in order to be successful on the court," Arbiza said. "He really stepped up as a freshman and I'm proud of him. I found myself following him as well. We really gained some important points in the semifinals and finals."
Arbiza and Del Rio comprised UTA's No. 2 pair that defeated South Alabama 6-2 in the Sun Belt finals. Arbiza and Del Rio are currently 4-6 in doubles play this season, and 4-2 in the second spot. Del Rio also recorded a win while playing alongside junior Jhonathan Gonzalez.
Individually, Del Rio is 4-4 with wins in the third and fourth positions, and posted a 2-1 record as a No. 6 player.
Freshman and Las Palmas, Canarias native Guanarteme Nuez was ranked 12th nationally in Spain prior to becoming a Maverick. Now, he garners the third-highest amount of singles wins at 13-10, and has earned enough trust and respect over the year to compete at the top slot of UTA's lineup in the conference championship.
"Any time you have a freshman playing at the No. 1 position, that's really good news for me as a coach," UTA coach Diego Benitez said. "Especially in the spring, [Nuez] has done a remarkable job adjusting and adapting to the pressure that comes with playing at the collegiate level."
Nuez is also tied with Gonzalez at six No. 1 victories and carries the most wins in the No. 2 spot (6). In doubles, Nuez and Muniesa have connected to become a team second-best 13-7 as its third pair.
And now the Mavs face OU in search of their NCAA win. They not only want to claim a victory for UTA, but for the players next to them.
"We're going to represent the university and ourselves as well as we can," Arbiza said. "We're going to be ready. We're facing a really good team in every spot."
