Tasnime Ahamout and Natalia Gonzalez pair up during a match against Collin College on April 7 at the UTA Tennis Center.
File photo / Sarah Wesolowski
The UTA women’s tennis team is set to start its season Friday in the first of five scheduled fall tournaments.
The team brought back six players and lost one to graduation. Longtime head coach Diego Benitez said last season was a learning year for the group, but now that they have experience, they expect to win.
“They’re doing everything that they can to put the name of the institution in the map,” Benitez said.
One of the returners is sophomore Tasnime Ahamout. Last spring she had the most finished singles matches, the most singles matches won and the second-most doubles matches won on the team.
Ahamout said having a year of experience under her belt should help make her even better and turn close losses into wins.
“The first season, I was still 17. All of my matches, I was playing against older players than me,” Ahamout said. “After playing a full year and getting really into the college game, I think I gained not 100% of the experience, but I really gained a lot of experience.”
The team also returns junior Vanja Cado and sophomores Flora Farkaslaki, Natalia Gonzalez, Diana Kaibara and Sofia Selle. With most of the players entering their second season in Arlington, Benitez said they all have taken agency in leadership matters, instead of just Cado.
“Last year, probably only Vanja was the main one,” Benitez said. “This year, I see that two or three different girls have stepped up and have asked to take roles in different areas that before, maybe just one person was responsible of.”
The team’s roster this year is rounded out by one transfer student, junior Nahia Echaide Gonzalez, and one freshman, Maria Isabel Suarez.
Echaide Gonzalez arrives at UTA after two seasons at Louisiana State University of Alexandria, which competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, not the NCAA. Last year, she had a 12-2 record in singles play, leading the team to the NAIA national quarterfinals.
Suarez comes stateside from Cali, Colombia, after winning tournaments across her home country and making deep runs in tournaments around Latin America.
Benitez said that Echaide Gonzalez’s strength comes from her left-handedness and being able to put an unexpected spin on the ball, while Suarez’s strength is strength itself and her ability to direct the ball anywhere she wants.
The Mavericks will open the season this weekend at the home of conference rival Abilene Christian University with the ACU Invite, at the Cecil and Judi Eager Tennis Pavilion in Abilene, Texas.
The team will then head to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Texas regionals Oct. 8-11 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. Benitez called the Texas region the best in the country.
“No need to leave the state,” Benitez said. “We want to make sure that we’re pretty fresh but at the same time exposed to the best competition that we can.”
The team then heads out of the state for the only time this fall to compete in the first-ever United Athletic Conference Fall Individual Championship from Oct. 23 to 25 at the Governors Tennis Courts in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Those who don’t go to Tennessee will likely play in the Battle for the Boot JAE Foundation Open from Oct. 23 to 25 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth.
The team will finish its fall slate at the States Up Slam from Nov. 6 to 8 at the Bobcat Tennis Complex in San Marcos, Texas.
The women’s spring tennis schedule has not been announced yet.
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