ARLINGTON - The UT Arlington men's tennis team (11-7, 0-1 SBC) dropped their Sun Belt Conference opener in a hard-fought battle at the UTA Tennis Center on Friday afternoon, falling to #38 Louisiana 4-3.

Doubles was the difference maker in the match as the Cajuns came away with the doubles point by taking line one and two.  Anton Shepp and Miguel Cabrera fell 6-3 on court one, while Maks Lukman and Alan Sau Franco lost by the same score on court two.

The Cajuns took a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win on court four over Lukman before Alan Sau Franco put the Mavericks on the scoreboard with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court one.

Anton Shepp fell on court three 6-3, 6-3 as Louisiana looked to close out the match, but the Mavericks had other ideas.

Solano Caffarena defeated Kacper Dworak 6-3, 6-3 on court five before Daichi Akiyoshi knotted the match at three points with a a 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-3 win on court six.

The match came down to line two with the reigning SBC Player of the Week Miguel Cabrera playing.  After falling 7-6 (6) in the first set, Cabrera fought back with a 6-3 win in set two.  He was unable to complete the comeback and give the Mavericks the upset win, however, falling 6-3 in the third set as the Cajuns took the match 4-3.

UTA will hit the road and travel to South Carolina to take on Coastal Carolina on Sunday at 9 a.m. in Conway.

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