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ARLINGTON, Texas – For the first time of the spring season, the UT Arlington men’s tennis team is in action on its home court. The Mavericks host a pair of matches this week, the first against the Abilene Christian Wildcats at noon Thursday and the second against Tyler Junior College at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Both matches will take place at the UTA Tennis Center.

UTA (0-5) is coming off an 0-2 road trip to Norman, Oklahoma this past weekend. The Mavericks lost to Oklahoma 4-0 and New Mexico 6-1. UTA’s lone 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.

The Mavericks are 8-4 all-time against Abilene Christian. UTA had won five in a row in the series until the Wildcats defeated the Mavericks 4-2 in last year’s Western Athletic Conference tournament. UTA is 3-0 all-time against Tyler Junior College, sweeping the Apaches 4-0 in each of the past two seasons. 

Scouting Abilene Christian

The Wildcats (3-3) and the Mavericks have a pair of common opponents in Oklahoma and TCU. Abilene Christian fared slightly better against Oklahoma, picking up a point when Luis Jose Nakamine knocked off Lacides in a Court 1 singles matchup, but still fell 6-1. The Wildcats also lost 7-0 to TCU.

Nakamine has been a standout for the Wildcats, winning three of his first five matchups in singles play. The sophomore played exclusively on Court 1, only losing his bouts against No. 3 TCU’s Duncan Chan and No. 2 Texas’ Sebastian Gorzny.

Scouting Tyler Junior College

The Apaches faced off against Abilene Christian in January, dropping the bout 4-2. Tyler’s Court 2 doubles team of Alejandro Pardo and Enrico Franchi won their match and an Abilene Christian forfeit on doubles Court 3 and singles Court 6 helped secure the Apaches two points.


– #BuckEm –

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