ARLINGTON, Texas– The UT Arlington men's tennis team (8-5) defeated Furman 5-1 in their Thursday match at the UTA Tennis Center.
 
The doubles point came down to the last court, with the Mavericks taking the 1-0 lead.
 
Lachlan Robertson and Joan Torres Espinosa were the first duo to finish on Court 3. They fell 6-1 to Ben Cahill and Alex Han after going down 3-0 early in the match.
 
Santiago Giamichelle and Dante Teramo retaliated to even up the score with a 6-2 win on Court 2. They earned the early break to go up 2-0. The rest of the match went smoothly for the duo, earning another break to go up 4-1. Teramo finished the match with an ace to secure the win over No. 66 ranked Jerry Barton and Elijah Poritsky and improve the pair's record to 5-2.
 
The early advantage came down to Anton Shepp and Solano Caffarena on Court 1. The pair stayed on-serve up until 4-3, when a volley winner from Caffarena secured the break for the Mavs to go up 5-3.
 
Cole Burnam and Thomas Kennedy fought hard to break back, bringing the score to 5-4. The battle continued into a tiebreaker with both teams at 6 games each. Shepp started off strong with an ace to go up 1-0. Burnam and Kennedy battled back to keep the score even up until 7-7. Caffarena hit a clean winner to go up 8-7, then Shepp forced an error to win the tiebreaker 9-7.
 
With the 1-0 lead, the Mavericks were able to carry the momentum into singles play, dropping only 1 point to the Paladins.
 
Teramo was the first off the court, defeating Chad Nash without dropping a game. After getting a double-break early on to go up 3-0, the rest of the match went smoothly for Teramo. With a final score of 6-0, 6-0 on Court 6, he moves to 7-4 on the season.
 
Torres Espinosa earned the next win for the Mavericks on Court 4, where he defeated Burnam. He took the first set quickly, earning the early break to go up 3-1 then breaking again to go up 5-1. The first set ended with a 6-2 victory for Torres Espinosa.
 
The next set was a battle, with Burnam forcing errors to keep the score close. At six games each, the second set came down to a tiebreaker. Torres was able to close out the match by forcing an error, earning the 7-6 win.
 
Santiago Giamichelle clinched the match for the Mavs on Court 4 by defeating Kennedy 6-4, 6-1. In a close first set, Giamichelle was able to break at 5-4 and win the first set 6-4. The second set went smoothly for Giamichelle after an early break to go up 1-0. He finished the second set 6-1 to move to 7-3 on the season.
 
Anton Shepp took the only loss on Court 1 to Barton in a tight match that came down to one break in each set. After losing his service game early, Shepp retaliated to bring the score back to 1-1. The rest of the set stayed on-serve until 5-5, when Shepp earned a break off an overhead to go up 6-5. Barton broke back to bring the score to 6-6. The first set came down to the tiebreaker, with Barton winning 7-6.
 
Barton started the next set with a 2-0 lead after Shepp lost his service game. Shepp fought back to bring the score to 2-3, but Barton was too much to overcome, with Shepp falling 6-4 in the second set.
 
Robertson retaliated on Court 5 to put the Mavs at 5-1. The first set went back and forth up until 5-4. Robertson then forced an error to break and win the first set 6-4. The second set went similarly until 2-2 when Emil Westling broke to go up 3-2. Robertson fought back at 3-4, breaking back with a forced error to tie the set. At 6-6, Robertson took the tiebreaker to win the match and move to 7-3 on the season.
 
The final match went unfinished, with Caffarena forcing a deciding set tiebreaker. After winning the first set 7-5, Poritzky retaliated to take the second set 6-3. In the deciding set tiebreaker, Poritzky went up 9-5 before the match was called due to weather conditions.
 
The Mavs will be back in action in Wichita, Kansas against Wichita State on March 16 at 1 p.m. They will be back in the UTA Tennis Center on April 2 to face their first conference opponent UT Rio Grande Valley at 10 a.m.
 
UTA 5, FU 1
Singles

1. Jerry Barton (UTA) def. Anton Shepp (UTA) 7-6, 6-4
2. Unfinished
3. Santiago Giamichelle (UTA) def. Thomas Kennedy (FU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Joan Torres Espinosa (UTA) def. Cole Burnam (FU) 6-2, 7-6
5. Lachlan Robertson (UTA) def. Emil Westling (FU) 6-4, 7-6
6. Dante Teramo (UTA) def. Chad Nash (FU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

1. Anton Shepp/Solano Caffarena (UTA) def. Cole Burnam/Thomas Kennedy (FU) 7-6 (7)
2. Santiago Giamichelle/Dante Teramo (UTA) def. Jerry Barton/Elijah Poritsky (FU) 6-2
3. Ben Cahill/Alex Han (FU) def. Lachlan Robertson/Joan Torres Espinosa (UTA) 6-1

 
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