ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington women's tennis is back in action after a 10-day layoff, taking on the Butler Bulldogs at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the UTA Tennis Center. The Mavericks showed positive signs in their previous two outings and are looking to get back into the win column.

UTA (2-8) is coming off a pair of losses to Louisiana-Lafayette and Appalachian State. Despite the losses, the outings were the Mavericks most competitive since their victories over Lubbock Christian and Dallas Baptist.

Both matches were still in play for the Mavericks with just two singles matches remaining. UTA, however, couldn't quite get over the hump.

The Mavericks bout against ULL came down to the singles bouts on Court 2 and Court 3. UTA had already won the doubles point for the first time this spring and Tasnime Ahamout picked up a victory on Court 6 to give the Mavericks their second point. 

However, the Ragin' Cajuns had won the other three singles tilts, leaving it up to Elizaveta Mladentseva and Sofia Selle to each win their matchups and — by extension — the day for the Mavericks. Selle and ULL's Safia Zenbi had traded 7-5 wins in the first two sets on Court 3, and the final set was no different.

Selle had the upperhand early, but Zenbi rallied back to win another 7-5 set and clinch the match for the Ragin' Cajuns. Mladentseva finished her Court 2 bout, defeating Marilou Bressan 7-5 in the final set and picking up the Mavericks third point.

Just two days later against Appalachian State, UTA found itself in a similar situation. The Mavericks fell behind 3-0 early, but Selle overcame a 6-0 first set loss to win her Court 2 bout and Flora Farkaslaki won in a three-set Court 5 matchup to again bring the match down to its final two tilts.

All the while, Diana Kaibara was giving Appalachian State's Savannah Dada-Mascoll — the ITA No. 9 ranked singles player in the country — all she could handle on Court 1. Kaibara defeated Dada-Mascoll in a 7-6 (7-5) thriller of an opening set, but had to rebound after falling 6-3 in the second. 

Kaibara came out undeterred, jumping out to a 4-1 lead and putting herself on the precipice of a monumental win, but Dada-Mascoll regrouped, ultimately winning the final set 7-5. Meanwhile, Natalia Gonzalez fell to App State's Ruby Broadbent in a third set tilt on Court 4, giving the Mountaineers a 5-2 victory.

Scouting Butler
This will be the first ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Mavericks. After getting off to an up-and-down start in the spring, Butler has lost its last eight matches, bringing the Bulldogs record to 3-12.

Chase Metcalf leads the way for Butler, primarily competing on singles Court 1. Metcalf most recently picked up a win against UConn in a 4-3 Bulldogs loss on Feb. 27.

Live scoring for the match can be found on Statbroadcast. FOLLOW ALONG
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