Graduate student Elizaveta Mladentseva swings at the ball during a match against UT Dallas on Feb. 7 at the UTA Tennis Center. Mladentseva left her singles match unfinished.
UTA women’s tennis (2-3) defeated both UT Dallas (0-2) and Lubbock Christian University (0-1) Saturday at the UTA Tennis Center.
UT Dallas and Lubbock Christian compete in the Lone Star Conference in NCAA Division II.
Freshman Tasnime Ahamout cheers as the team scores during a match against UT Dallas on Feb. 7 at the UTA Tennis Center. The team won 4-1.
The matchup against UT Dallas began with each team taking one doubles win, with sophomore Vanja Cado and freshman Sofia Selle losing the first, while the all-freshman team of Tasnime Ahamout and Natalia Gonzalez won the second.
In the third matchup, played by graduate student Elizaveta Mladentseva and freshman Flora Farkaslaki, UT Dallas notched the first point of the day after a UTA hit sailed wide.
Sophomore Vanja Cado cheers after scoring during a match against UT Dallas on Feb. 7 at the UTA Tennis Center. Cado won both her singles matches.
Singles play went in the Mavericks’ favor, as Ahamout, Cado, Selle and Gonzalez swept their opponents, clinching a comeback UTA win. Farkaslaki and Mladentseva’s matches went unfinished.
The Lubbock Christian matchup began similarly to the first, as Cado and Selle won their match while Mladentseva and Farkaslaki lost theirs. Once again, the third matchup was the decider, and Ahamout and Gonzalez lost on a hit that went just past the out-of-bounds line.
Freshman Natalia Gonzalez prepares to return a shot during a match against Lubbock Christian University on Feb. 7 at the UTA Tennis Center. Gonzalez has contributed across singles and doubles play this season for the Mavericks.
Ahamout and Cado swept their opponents in the opening of singles play. Mladentseva then lost her match, tying the game at two. UTA wouldn’t go down though, as Gonzalez and Ahamout then swept their opponents to take the win.
Freshman Natalia Gonzalez tosses the ball for a serve during a match against Lubbock Christian University on Feb. 7 at the UTA Tennis Center. Gonzalez won her singles match 2-0.
After his team notched the first wins of the season, head coach Diego Benitez said he noticed both positives in the team’s performance and negatives to be improved on.
“We need to get better in doubles, that’s for sure,” Benitez said. “What was good was that they fought until the end, and they overcome both matches, going down 1-0 into the singles and the way they came back, determined to put the W.”
Cado won both her singles matches while going 1-1 in doubles play. Cado said she, too, sees room for improvement for the Mavericks.
“We just need more experience. We’re a pretty new team still. We haven’t played much with each other. We’re still trying to mix it up a little bit with the doubles team, and trying to find the right partners,” Cado said. “We even got better in the second doubles from the first one, so we’re improving all the time.”
UTA women’s tennis will be back in action at noon Friday, taking on Southern Methodist University at the UTA Tennis Center.
“We have to get better really quick here in the next few days. That’s for sure. We need to spend some time on the practice. They’re a really, really good team. They put in a lot of good wins already on the board,” Benitez said. “But we’re definitely capable to beat anybody that is in front of us. We just have to make sure that we take care of the little details.”
UTA players compete across multiple courts during a match against Lubbock Christian University on Feb. 7 at the UTA Tennis Center. The Mavericks won 4-2, improving from their early-season record.
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