ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington women's tennis suffered a hard-fought loss in its match against the Appalachian State Mountaineers, dropping the bout 5-2. As was the case in its matchup against Louisiana-Lafayette just two days prior, the Mavericks (2-8) had a chance to win with two singles court matches remaining, but couldn't come away with the victory.

The action came down to Court 1 — where Diana Kaibara was pushing App State's Savannah Dada-Mascoll to the limit — and Court 4, which saw Natalia Gonzalez battling the Mountaineers' Ruby Broadbent in a decisive third set.

Gonzalez had bested Broadbent 6-4 in the opening set, but now trying to bounce back after a 6-2 defeat in the second. UTA trailed the match 3-2, needing both Gonzalez and Kaibara to pull through for a victory.

While Gonzalez worked on her Court 4 bout, Kaibara was looking to finish off her upset bid. Dada-Mascoll had entered her tilt with Kaibara as the ITA's No. 9 ranked singles player in the country with a 5-1 record in dual matches for the spring.

Kaibara outlasted Dada-Mascoll in tiebreakers in the first set, taking the win 7-6 (7-5) before dropping the second 6-3. The UTA freshman was taking the fight to the App State senior to begin the third and final set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Dada-Mascoll then took two games in a row, but Kaibara rallied to grow her lead back to 5-3 and move just one game from a victory.

Dada-Mascoll, however, wouldn't go down quietly. The senior went on a run to win the next four sets, escaping with a narrow 7-5 victory. All the while, Broadbent had earlier pulled away for a 6-3 win on Court 4, which secured the match for the Mountaineers (4-6).

Along with Court 1 and Court 4, two other singles matches went to a decisive third set. Flora Farkaslaki knocked off Alexi Cleveland 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 on Court 5 in a strong showing that grabbed the Mavericks their first point of the match.

Sofia Selle picked up UTA's other point on Court 2 in singles play. The freshman overcame a rough 6-0 defeat in the first set, defeating Naledi Manyube 6-4 and 6-3 over the last two to win the tilt.

UTA looks to rebound when it faces the Butler Bulldogs at 10 a.m. March 10 at the UTA Tennis Center.

APP 5, UTA 2
Singles

1. No. 9 Savannah Dada-Mascoll (APP) def. Diana Kaibara (UTA) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-5
2. Sofia Selle (UTA) def. Naledi Manyube (APP) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 
3. Taya Powell (APP) def. Elizaveta Mladentseva (UTA) 6-2, 6-1 
4. Ruby Broadbent (APP) def. Natalia Gonzalez (UTA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Flora Farkaslaki (UTA) def. Alexi Cleveland (APP) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
6. Sreenidhi Balaji (APP) def. Tasnime Ahamout (UTA) 7-5, 7-5 

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

Doubles

1. Tasnime Ahamout/Diana Kaibara (UTA) vs. Savannah Dada-Mascoll/Taya Powell (APP) 4-4, unfinished
2. Ruby Broadbent/Naledi Manyube (APP) def. Elizaveta Mladentseva/Sofia Selle (UTA) 6-1
3. Sreenidhi Balaji/Allegra Hodson (APP) def. Flora Farkaslaki/Natalia Gonzalez (UTA) 6-0 

Order of finish: 3, 2 FOLLOW ALONG
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