ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington women's tennis dropped a close match against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns in a bout that came down to the wire. The Mavericks fell 4-3, the Ragin' Cajuns securing the win on the penultimate singles court match.

The bout came down to the singles matchups on Court 2 and Court 3, both of which went to a decisive third set. UTA's Sofia Selle and Louisiana-Lafayette's Safia Zenbi had traded 7-5 wins in the first two sets on Court 3.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks' Elizaveta Mladentseva's comeback bid in the second set came up short against the Ragin' Cajuns Marilou Bressan, necessitating a winner-take-all final set. Mladentseva breezed to a 6-2 first set win but fell behind 4-0 in the second set. The graduate student battled all the way back to even take a 6-5 lead, but Bressan rallied and won the set 7-6 (8-6) in tiebreakers.

With all other matches completed, Court 2 and Court 3 took centerstage with UTA trailing 3-2 and needing Selle and Mladentseva both to win. Both matches were a dead heat throughout the set — each at one point being equalized at 5-5 — but it wasn't to be for the Mavericks.

Zenbi pulled ahead and clinched the match with a 7-5 third set win. Mladentseva and Bressan were allowed to finish their tilt, with Mladentseva grabbing the Mavericks their third and final point while ending the marathon match.

Elsewhere in the matchup, UTA mixed up its pairings in doubles play which paid off in spades for the Mavericks. Flora Farkaslaki and Natalia Gonzalez quickly picked up a 6-1 win on Court 3 before Mladentseva and Selle followed suit with a 6-2 win on Court 2. That secured the doubles point for UTA, its first of the spring.

The Mavericks second point came courtesy of Tasnime Ahamout in singles play. The freshman turned in a strong showing on Court 6, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette's Rocio Navarro 6-3, 6-4.

UTA will have a short turnaround before its next match, facing the Appalachian State Mountaineers at 10 a.m. Saturday at the UTA Tennis Center. Live stats for the match can be found here.

UL 4, UTA 3
Singles

1. Angelique Berrat (UL) def. Diana Kaibara (UTA) 6-0, 6-1 
2. Elizaveta Mladentseva (UTA) def. Marilou Bressan (UL) 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5
3. Safia Zenbi (UL) def. Sofia Selle (UTA) 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 
4. Martina Della Gora (UL) def. Natalia Gonzalez (UTA) 6-3, 6-3 
5. Ana Martinez Vaquero (UL) def. Flora Farkaslaki (UTA) 6-2, 6-4 
6. Tasnime Ahamout (UTA) def. Rocio Navarro (UL) 6-3, 6-4  

Order of finish: 1, 5, 6, 4, 3, 2

Doubles

1. Tasnime Ahamout/Diana Kaibara (UTA) vs. Martina Della Gora/Safia Zenbi (UL) 4-5, unfinished
2. Elizaveta Mladentseva/Sofia Selle (UTA) def. Angelique Berrat/Nina Krecklenberg (UL) 6-2 
3. Flora Farkaslaki/Natalia Gonzalez (UTA) def. Marilou Bressan/Rocio Navarro (UL) 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2 FOLLOW ALONG
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