WT: Mavs looking to build on strong opening weekend
9/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 22, 2016
By Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington tennis opened the 2016 fall season with a bang as two Mavericks reached finals in two separate draws at the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational over the weekend.
Heading to the second competition of the season, a whole new lineup will be featured as UTA coach Diego Benitez continues to send out a strong group of women looking to make long runs in the Rice Invitational beginning on Friday in Houston.
"We are going to have a different group down in Rice and see how they do with different pairings," Benitez said. "We will have different pairs all week and throughout the fall. I am confident we will be a powerhouse in doubles, we always have been, and it is just a matter of time until they are clicking."
One success coming out of the opening weekend was freshman Anna Wichert taking the consolation draw in her first weekend of collegiate tennis. Wichert picked up three wins along the way.
"It was really nice," Wichert said. "It was a good experience. I lost my first match and was really sad, but I played really well in the back draw and was able to win and won three in a row. It was pretty good for the beginning and I had a lot of fun."
Wichert, new to the collegiate experience on the court, said that the biggest difference between playing in Germany and in the collegiate game was the amount of practice and time on the court.
"Practice is tougher here, there is more of it," Wichert said. "You are tired all the time, but it is a good feeling that you did something for your team and to have fun doing so."
The Rheinbach, Germany native has leaned on the experience of a UTA squad that returned six and added that one of her favorite things of being around the team is the support that she has gotten while she is playing from her teammates.
One of those that has been a vocal leader and a teacher for the two freshman is senior Angeles de los Rios. De los Rios reached the main draw final in what she called an important event to get the cobwebs out in her first tournament of her final year.
"I wanted to do good," de los Rios said. "I knew it was a tough tournament and that there would be good players, so it was just about going there and giving it my best."
De los Rios is not a part of the four making their way to Houston this weekend, but said that the team has been working on mixing up doubles and just improving day-to-day in order to get ready for team competition in the spring.
Fellow senior Jessica Birowski is scheduled to compete for the first time in 2016-17 on Friday and will be joined by Valeria Lopez, Carla Cerdan Vives and freshman Lusine Chobanyan.
Follow @UTAMavsTennis on Twitter to keep up with the action over the weekend.
