ARLINGTON– The UT Arlington men's tennis team (3-3) dropped their first home match of the season against Rice 5-2 Friday at the UTA Tennis Center.
 
The Mavericks came close to taking the doubles point but could not overcome the Owls, losing two out of three doubles matches.
 
Dante Teramo and Joan Torres Espinosa started off the day strong with a solid 6-3 win on Court 1 over Trinity Grear and Yasha Zemel. After the Mavs earned an early break, the match stayed close until 5-3, when Espinosa served for the match and secured the win. The pair moved to 2-0 in the spring season and 6-2 overall.
 
The Owls retaliated with a close win over Yazid Lahjomri and Pedro Sasso on Court 2. The match stayed on-serve until 6-5, when Kabeer Kapasi and Santiago Navarro were able to break for the 7-5 win, evening the score.
 
The early advantage came down to a tiebreaker on Court 3, where Solano Caffarena and Andres Medus could not overcome Arthus de la Bassetiere and Eduardo Morais. The Mavs kept the score tight, bringing the set to 6-6 to force the tiebreaker. The Owls proved too strong, allowing only four points to take the set 7-6 (4).
 
In singles action, the Mavs dropped the next four matches before earning two wins to end the day on a high note.
 
Meethre Barot was the first off, falling to Navarro in straight sets on Court 5. Barot earned an early 3-1 lead in the first set, but Navarro came back to take the set 6-3. Navarro played a strong second set, allowing Barot only one game before taking the 6-1 win.
 
Sasso was the next to fall on Court 4 to Emir Sendogan in straight sets. The first set came down to two games, with Sendogan winning by a break 6-4. Sasso could not overcome Sendogan in the second set, falling 6-0 to give the Owls 3-0 in the match.
 
Grear clinched the match for the Owls on Court 2 with a straight set win over Caffarena. Caffarena dropped the first set 6-2 before falling in the second set by the same score.
 
Medus fell next on Court 6 to Kapasi after a close first set. The first set stayed close until the end, when Kapasi earned the break for the 7-5 win. Kapasi proved too strong in the second, earning the 6-3 win to put the Owls at 5-0.
 
Teramo put the Mavs on the scoreboard with a strong win on Court 3 that came down to a deciding set tiebreaker. The first set stayed on-serve until Teramo had the 6-5 lead. He played a strong game to break de la Bassetiere's serve for the one set advantage. De la Bassatiere fought back to take the second, earning a 6-4 win to even the score.
 
In a decisive tiebreaker, Teramo earned an early 5-1 lead. He finished the match in a dominant fashion, taking the tiebreaker 10-4 for the win to put him at 4-2 in dual matches for the season.
 
Espinosa carried the momentum from Teramo's match, moving to 8-2 overall with another deciding set tiebreaker win on Court 1. The first set stayed close until Zemel won a late break of serve to win the set 6-4. Espinosa continued to fight in the second set, forcing the score to 6-6 for the tiebreaker. He earned a 7-6 (4) win to force a second tiebreaker to decide the set.
 
The score stayed close at the start of the third-set tiebreaker, but Espinosa dominated the end the day with a Mavericks' win. The 10-6 win put the final score at 5-2.
 
The Mavericks will be back in action on February 16 for the H-E-B Tournament of Champions in Corpus Christi, Texas. Texas A&M- Corpus Christi will host the three day event from February 16 to February 18. Their next home match is set for March 10, where they will be taking on the Islanders of TAMUCC at the UTA Tennis Center at 2 p.m.
 
UTA 2, Rice 5
 Doubles

1. Dante Teramo/ Joan Torres Espinosa (UTA) def. Trinity Grear/ Yasha Zemel (Rice) 6-3
2. Kabeer Kapasi/ Santiago Navarro (Rice) def. Yazid Lahjomri/ Pedro Sasso (UTA) 7-5
3. Arthus de la Bassetiere/ Eduardo Morais (Rice) def. Solano Caffarena/ Andres Medus (UTA) 7-6 (4)

Singles

1. Joan Torres Espinosa (UTA) def. Yasha Zemel (Rice) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-6
2. Trinity Grear (Rice) def. Solano Caffarena (UTA) 6-2, 6-2
3. Dante Teramo (UTA) def. Arthus de la Bassetiere (Rice) 7-5, 4-6, 10-4
4. Emir Sendogan (Rice) def. Pedro Sasso (UTA) 6-4, 6-0
5. Santiago Navarro (Rice) def. Meethre Barot (UTA) 6-3, 6-1
6. Kabeer Kapasi (Rice) def. Andres Medus (UTA) 7-5, 6-3

 
 
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