ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington men's tennis is set to return to the court for a pair of weekend bouts, first against the Wichita State Shockers and finishing with the Lamar Cardinals. UTA faces Wichita State at 11 a.m. Friday and caps the weekend off with Lamar at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Both matches will take place at the UTA Tennis Center. It will be the first two home matches the Mavericks have had this spring. 

UTA (0-5) was last in action over two weeks ago, coming off an 0-2 road trip to Norman, Oklahoma. The Mavericks lost to Oklahoma 4-0 and New Mexico 6-1. 

The lone UTA point of the weekend came courtesy of Novak Ivanovic, who was ahead of the Lobos' Jan Skerbatis in the second set before a retirement ended the bout. It was Ivanovic's second singles win of the spring. 

Earlier in the match against New Mexico, UTA's Court 1 duo of Axel Delva and Yazid Lahjomri bested Skerbatis and Tyler Waddock 7-6 (7-5). Delva also battled Waddock in a three-set singles match on Court 4 that ended in a Waddock victory.

Against Oklahoma, Lahjomri played Oscar Lacides — the ITA No. 72 ranked singles player — tough, but their match was left unfinished with Lacides holding a 4-3 lead in the second set. 

Wichita State leads the all-time series against the Mavericks by a 16-7 margin.The programs have played each other every season since 2019, with UTA's last victory coming by a 4-3 margin in 2023.

In its series against Lamar, UTA holds a lopsided 28-1 record. The Cardinals lone victory in the series came in a 4-3 nailbiter in 2014. The Mavericks have won eight straight in the series since.

Scouting Wichita State
The Shockers started their spring 5-7 prior to their Thursday bout against Abilene Christian. Wichita State has alternated wins and losses following an 0-3 start in dual matches. 

Both the Shockers and Mavericks share a common opponent in Boise State. The Broncos beat UTA 4-1 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament back in January and the Shockers fell to Boise State 6-1 on Feb. 13.

Wichita State features one ITA-ranked player in No. 103 Zaid Al Mashni. The Sophomore is 5-3 in dual singles matches this spring with wins on courts 2-5.

Scouting Lamar
The Cardinals, like Wichita State, enter the weekend at 5-7 pending a road match against Abilene Christian the day before their tilt with the Mavericks. All five of Lamar's wins this spring have come in its last six matches, the Cardinals most recently sweeping a doubleheader against Dillard this past Saturday.

Rintaro Shukuda has led the way for Lamar. The freshman is 5-2 in singles duals this spring, including 2-0 on Court 1. Shukuda has also won matches on Court 2 and Court 3. 

The Cardinals also feature a strong doubles team in Maxwell Lindstedt and Leon Nickel. The duo have won seven doubles matches in a row, six of which have come on Court 1.

Live stats can be found for both matches. You can follow the Wichita State match here and the Lamar match here. FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's tennis program on X (formally known as Twitter) (@utamavsmtennis) Instagram (@utamavsmtennis) and Facebook (/utamavsmtennis).