Final Stats

By Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike

NORMAN, Okla. - A historic season came to an end for UT Arlington as No. 11 seed Oklahoma downed the Mavericks 4-0 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

After a closely-contested doubles point stole momentum away from the Mavericks in a tiebreak, the Sooners were able to take the crucial singles points to close the match. UTA finishes the year with an 18-11 overall record after its four-match winning streak came to an end. The 18 wins were the most in program history.

"It is the highest level of competition, for us to be exposed to this and this environment is huge," UT Arlington coach Diego Benitez said. "There aren't too many days we get to compete at this level. We are going to take it in and learn. We were playing against a Top-10 team that is going to have a chance to win the national championship. Competing against them in the way we did says a lot about our team."

Oklahoma improved to 8-3 in the all-time series and won its third consecutive match over the Mavericks. UTA fell to 0-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in its fifth appearance in the field, first since 2006.

Reflecting back on the year, Benitez said that what he will remember about this team most is the tenacity and determination.

"They never give up and refuse to lose," Benitez said. "It doesn't matter what part of the match they are in, they stay focused and determined."

For junior Mario Muniesa, the UTA match clincher during the Sun Belt Championship, the experience gave the Mavs a chance to compete on the biggest stage as they improve from year to year.

"This was one of the greatest seasons, not only for me, but for the program," Muniesa said. "After two years of struggling to get to the finals, we got to the championship, won it and got here. We did everything we could and we will be proud of ourselves for a great season."

"We learned how to compete and not show that much respect to the better teams ranking wise. We saw that we could have beat them; we almost did in doubles. We didn't give up and we gave everything we had. They beat us, probably because they were better, but not because we gave us."

UTA's lone senior, its captain Carlos Arbiza, closed his career with a 58-48 career record after his 12-match winning streak came to an end on the final point. Arbiza joined with Mauricio Del Rio to claim the lone doubles win as the Sooners (16-10) took two of the three matches to earn the point.

At No. 3 doubles, Guanarteme Nuez and Mario Muniesa were locked into a closely-contested battle that determined the point. UTA was able to hold serve down 6-5 to force the tiebreak.

The teams went back-and-forth early in the tiebreak before UTA saw its first opportunity, breaking Oklahoma's serve to take a two-point lead. However, with UTA on serve, OU bounced right back to take a 6-5 lead. UTA was able to break to extend the match, but the Sooners took the final two points to win at the third position.

With the momentum on its side, Oklahoma quickly pushed the score to 3-0 with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Nuez found it tough to get anything going against No. 97 Axel Alvarez Llamas, falling 6-2, 6-3. Jhonathan Gonzalez would fall in his match to No. 25 Spencer Papa 6-1, 6-1.