ARLINGTON, Texas– The UT Arlington men's tennis team (11-7, 2-0 WAC) added another conference win on Thursday, defeating Abilene Christian 5-2 at the UTA Tennis Center.
 
The Mavericks earned a key doubles victory to gain the 1-0 advantage early in the match.
 
The Wildcats started off strong by taking the first match on Court 3 over Lachlan Robertson and Joan Torres Espinosa. Savan Chhabra and Ethan Scribner earned an early break to go up 2-0, then finished off the match 6-1.
 
Santiago Giamichelle and Dante Teramo responded by evening the score on Court 2. The freshman team earned an early break and hold to go up 3-0, followed by a strong volley from Giamichelle to go up 4-1. They allowed Mihaly Deli and Daniel Morozov one more game before forcing an error on a deuce point to break and win the set 6-2.
 
The doubles point came down to Court 1, with Anton Shepp and Solano Caffarena battling against Cesar Barranquero and Dario Kmet. The Mavs earned an early break after Shepp hit an overhead winner to go up 1-0. Barranquero and Kmet fought hard to win their remaining service games, but the Mavericks did not allow them to break. Caffarena finished off the match with a volley winner for the 6-4 win and earned the pair's tenth win of the season.
 
The Mavericks continued the doubles momentum into singles play, dropping only two matches to the Wildcats.
 
Espinosa fell on Court 6 to Deli in straight sets for ACU to even the score 1-1. After getting broken early in the first set, Espinosa could not overcome the deficit, dropping the set 6-4. Deli finished off the second set 6-2 in order to give the Wildcats their first point.
 
Giamichelle retaliated with a win on Court 2 over Morozov to put the Mavs back in the win column. Morozov started off the first set strong with a break of serve, going up 4-2. Giamichelle fought hard with a break back to bring the score to 5-4. An overhead winner helped Giamichelle hold and even the score at 5-5. He followed that up with another break to go up 6-5, then held to win the set 7-5.
 
Giamichelle carried that momentum into the second set, starting off strong with a break to go up 2-1. He cruised through the set after going up 4-1, taking the win 6-1 over Morozov to move to 9-5 on the season.
 
Caffarena continued the Mavericks' success with another straight set win over Barranquero on Court 3. Caffarena earned a double break early on to go up 5-2 at the changeover. Barranquero then gained some momentum and brought the score to 5-4. Caffarena proved too strong to overcome, winning the first set with a forced error 6-4.
 
Strong groundstroke winners from the baseline helped Caffarena earn a lead in the second. He then broke to go up 4-2 and allowed Barranquero one more game before finishing off the set and match with a 6-3 win.
 
Court 5 finished soon after, with Teramo defeating Benjamin McDonald in straight sets for his tenth win of the season. The first set stayed on-serve until 4-4, when Teramo was able to earn a break for the 5-4 lead. He then finished off the set with a strong hold to win 6-4.
 
Teramo finished the second set in a similar manner, earning the early break to go up 2-1. He finished off the match quickly, not allowing McDonald another game for the 6-1 win.
 
Robertson followed with another win on Court 4 over Chhabra to move to 11-4 on the season. Robertson cruised through the first set, dropping only one game to Chhabra. After breaking early in the match, Robertson held with an ace to go up 5-0. Chhabra earned the next game before Robertson finished off the set 6-1.
 
The second set stayed close, with both players getting broken to keep the score even. Robertson went down 4-3 and broke Chhabra's serve to tie the score at 4-4. He got broken one more time before going up 6-5. Robertson finished off his service game with a forehand winner to win the set 7-5.
 
In the final match of the day, Shepp fell in the deciding set to Kmet to give the Wildcats their second point on Court 1. Kmet started the first set with a break, going up 2-1. Shepp fought hard to win his next service games, but got broken at 5-3 to give Kmet the first set 6-3.
 
Shepp fought back in the second set, earning an early break to go up 2-1. He followed with an ace to go up 5-3, then forced an error to win the set 6-3.
 
Kmet was too much to overcome in the third set, gaining a 4-1 lead early on. Shepp could not break back, dropping the next two games to give Kmet the 6-1 win.
 
The Mavs will be back in action on Saturday to face WAC opponent New Mexico State at 10 a.m. at the UTA Tennis Center.
 
UTA 5, ACU 2
 
Singles

1. Dario Kmet (ACU) def. Anton Shepp (UTA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
2. Santiago Giamichelle (UTA) def. Daniel Morozov (ACU) 7-5, 6-1
3. Solano Caffarena (UTA) def. Cesar Barranquero (ACU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Lachlan Robertson (UTA) def. Savan Chhabra (ACU) 6-1, 7-5
5. Dante Teramo (UTA) def. Benjamin McDonald (ACU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Mihaly Deli (ACU) def. Joan Torres Espinosa (UTA) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles

1. Anton Shepp/Solano Caffarena (UTA) def. Cesar Barranquero/Dario Kmet (ACU) 6-4
2. Santiago Giamichelle/Dante Teramo (UTA) def. Mihaly Deli/Daniel Morozov (ACU) 6-2
3. Savan Chhabra/Ethan Scribner (ACU) def. Lachlan Robertson/Joan Torres Espinosa (UTA) 6-1

 
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