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ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington men’s tennis is back at home and looking to bounce back against the Cleveland State Vikings after an 0-2 road trip in San Antonio. The Mavericks (0-9) will take on Cleveland State (9-8) at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the UTA Tennis Center.
UTA is coming off a pair of losses, the first a 7-0 defeat against UTSA and the second coming at the hands of Incarnate Word by a score of 5-2. The Mavericks were down a man in both matches, forcing them to forfeit singles Court 6 and doubles Court 3.
In both matchups, UTA split the two doubles matches that were actually played, but the forfeit on Court 3 cost them the doubles point. Between the two matches, six singles bouts went to a decisive third set.
The Mavericks weren’t able to pick up any of the three third sets they had against UTSA. Their best chance came on Court 1 where Yazid Lahjomri fell to the Roadrunners’ Oskar Grzegorzewski 6-4 in the final set. Lahjomri had won 6-2 in the second set to force the third and final bout.
Finbar McGarvey also had opportunities to win his Court 3 tilt against UTSA’s Timeo Bretin. McGarvey and Bretin went to a tiebreaker in the first set, which Bretin won 7-1. McGarvey then won the second set 6-3 to force a super tiebreaker in the decisive tilt, but Bretin again came out victorious by a 10-3 margin.
Fortunes changed for the Mavericks against Incarnate Word, where UTA won two of their three third set bouts, securing both of its points in the match. Saúl Berdullas Calviño narrowly defeated UIW’s Augustin Salazar 11-9 in the super tiebreaker third set on Court 3.
Lahjomri shook off a tough tiebreaker loss to the Cardinals’ Alejandro Hernandez in the second set, winning the decisive super tiebreaker 10-7. Novak Ivanovic nearly made the Mavericks 3-for-3 in third sets against UIW, but fell 10-8 on Court 4 in another super tiebreaker.
Cleveland State and UTA have played each other only one time before. The lone meeting came exactly 12 years to the very day of the second bout. The Mavericks defeated the Vikings 5-2 at the UTA Tennis Center.
Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings come in at 9-8, their last match a 4-0 loss to SMU on Sunday. Cleveland State has been in a groove after a somewhat streaky start, winning four of its last six matches.
Doubles play has been something of a strength for the Vikings as they sport a 25-14 record in doubles during dual matches. Cleveland State’s doubles play prowess is highlighted by the team of Lincoln Battle and Carl Gedlitschka, who are 6-3 on Court 1 in doubles.
Battle is also the Vikings top singles player. The junior is 8-4 in singles dual matches, competing exclusively on Court 1. His doubles partner Gedlitschka has also performed well on his own, rocking a 6-0 mark on Court 2 and an 11-4 record overall in dual matchups.
Live scoring for the match can be found on Statbroadcast.
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