ODESSA, Texas (January 28, 2026) – Forty student athletes were cited as Players to Watch during the Spring championship segment of the 2026 Lone Star Conference men's and women's tennis seasons announced today by the league office. Recognized from the University of Texas Permian Basin was Nehal Naidoo and Lucas Nakasato from the men's team and Dinethya Dharmaratne and Sophia Rashid from the women's team.

In his first season leading the Falcons in 2024-25, Head Coach Chris Tolson led the UTPB men's tennis team to a final record of 11-8, but also saw his Falcons advance to both the Lone Star Conference Semifinals and the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The UTPB men's tennis team opened up the Spring 2025 season ranked No. 25 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) NCAA Division II rankings, was ranked as high as No. 23 early on in the season, and finished the season ranked at No. 46. During the regular season, UTPB opened up LSC action with just the second win in program history against Cameron University with a 4-3 victory over the Aggies. Then in its very next match, UTPB picked up the first regular-season win in program history over Midwestern State University with a 5-2 win over the No. 15 nationally-ranked Mustangs to start 2-0 in conference action. Needing a win in its final match of the regular season to clinch a share of third place in the LSC, UTPB did just that a 6-1 win at Dallas Baptist University. However, in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals, the third-seeded Falcons held a 2-1 lead, but after a lengthy weather delay, could not keep it going and ultimately fell 4-2 against No. 5 nationally-ranked and second-seeded Lubbock Christian University. Then in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Men's Tennis Championship, the fourth-seeded Falcons won the doubles point, but then ran out of gas in singles action en route to a 4-1 defeat at No. 5 nationally-ranked and top-seeded LCU, bringing an end to the Falcons' 2024-25 season.

Nehal Naidoo is a freshman from Auckland, New Zealand, majoring in Finance. During the Fall season, Naidoo finished a combined 6-2 in singles and 3-2 in doubles with his partner, Joao D'Amorim. Naidoo went 3-0 in his singles flight at the Lilly Kimbell Memorial Invitational. At the ITA South Central Regional Championships, he was one of two Falcons to win their first match and advance to the second round of the Singles Flight A Main Draw while in doubles, Naidoo and D'Amorim were one of three UTPB doubles pairs to win their first match to advance to the second round of the Doubles Flight A Main Draw. Lastly, at the TAMUT Eagle Invite, Naidoo won the consolation final in the No. 4 singles draw while he and D'Amorim finished in third place in the No. 1 doubles draw.

Quote from Head Coach Chris Tolson: "I am extremely excited to see Nehal compete and grow this year. He has a ton of talent and is extremely athletic. He has the ability to be near the top of our lineup this year and compete with the best players in the conference."

Lucas Nakasato is a sophomore from Sao Paulo, Brazil, majoring in Marketing. During the Fall season, Nakasato finished a combined 6-3 in singles and 4-4 in doubles. Naidoo went 3-0 in his singles flight at the Lilly Kimbell Memorial Invitational. At the ITA South Central Regional Championships, he advanced to the second round of the Singles Flight A Back Draw while in doubles, Nakasato and his partner, Ayush Sharma, were one of three UTPB doubles pairs to win their first match to advance to the second round of the Doubles Flight A Main Draw. Lastly, at the TAMUT Eagle Invite, Naidoo finished in third place in both the No. 2 singles draw and No. 2 doubles draw (with Enrique Silveira). Last Spring, Nakasato was 5-8 at No. 2 singles and 2-1 in doubles as a true freshman. In LSC matches, he was 2-5 at No. 2 singles.

Quote from Head Coach Chris Tolson: "Lucas is the perfect teammate, always knowing you're going to get amazing effort and then a smile with a big hug. Last year was a big learning curve for Lucas, competing mostly at No. 2 in the lineup as a freshman. He had some extremely tough matches, but with his positive attitude and work ethic, he put in a lot of time this summer and Fall semester working on his game and I think he will play high in the lineup and will play a large part in our success this season."

On the women's side in 2024-25, the Falcons opened up their conference season by beating Cameron University for the first time in program history, winning by a score of 5-2. Later on in the season, the UTPB women swept the doubles matches and battled No. 19-ranked Lubbock Christian University to a one-point decision (4-3). Despite the loss, the Falcons won more matches (5) than the Lady Chaps (4) on the day. The Falcons earned the doubles point in six of their 10 conference matches last season.

Dinethya Dharmaratne is a sophomore from Colombo, Sri Lanka, majoring in Management. During the Fall season, Dharmaratne finished a combined 2-7 in singles and 3-4 in doubles. Dharmaratne earned one of UTPB's two singles wins and teamed up with Paige Sitanggang for one of UTPB's two doubles wins at the Lilly Kimbell Memorial Invitational. At the ITA South Central Regional Championships, she advanced to the second round of the Singles Flight A Back Draw while in doubles, Dharmaratne and her partner, Alyssa Glasgow, were the only UTPB doubles pair to win their first match to advance to the second round of the Doubles Flight A Main Draw. Lastly, at the TAMUT Eagle Invite, Dharmaratne and Sitanggang won the consolation final of their Doubles Flight B draw. Last Spring, Dharmaratne played primarily from the No. 6 singles and the No. 3 doubles spots as a true freshman. She held an overall singles record of 11-5 and a doubles record of 3-1. In LSC matches she was 5-5 in singles and 2-0 at No. 3 doubles. She started her Spring season by winning six straight matches in singles play and was named UTPB's Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Month for March after earning an exhibition win over NCAA Division I UTRGV at No. 6 singles; clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles in a 4-2 victory over Metro State; and also clinching the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles as UTPB won its 2025 home opener and LSC opener 5-2 over Cameron.

Quote from Head Coach Chris Tolson: "Dinethya gained a lot of experience last year and had several great wins for the program. I see Dinethya moving up in the lineup this year and being able to compete with the best players in our conference."

Sophia Rashid is a sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, majoring in Biology. During the Fall season, Rashid finished a combined 1-7 in singles and 2-5 in doubles. Rashid teamed up with Peyton Jones to earn one of UTPB's two doubles wins at the Lilly Kimbell Memorial Invitational. At the ITA South Central Regional Championships, she was the only Falcon to win her first match and advance to the second round of the Singles Flight A Main Draw. Lastly, at the TAMUT Eagle Invite, Rashid and Alyssa Glasgow teamed up to win their semifinal match and advance to the final of their Doubles Flight D draw. Last Spring, Rashid was 3-2 in singles and 5-5 in doubles as a true freshman. In LSC matches she was 1-1 in singles and 3-3 in doubles. Rashid secured the 6-1, 6-4 victory over Isabella Llano at No. 6 singles in the winner-take-all clinching match in a 4-3 victory for the Falcons over Delta State.

Quote from Head Coach Chris Tolson: "Sophia is a great athlete and has the ability to compete with the best in this conference. She has worked hard on all aspects of her game this past summer and in the Fall semester, so it will be fun to watch her compete and grow even more this season."

This year, the season for the UTPB tennis starts with three matches (Feb. 13-15) at UT Dallas and the UTD Tennis Complex in Richardson, Texas.