March 22, 2005
Box Score
The University of Texas - Pan American men's and women's tennis teams finished off Laredo Community College on Tuesday (Mar. 22) in their final home matches of the season. Both squads took the matches 4-3 with the decisions coming down to three-set singles matches.
On the men's side, the Broncs took the doubles point taking matches in the first and second slots. UTPA's No. 1 duo of Jeremy Salvo (Conquitlam, B.C., Canada/Centennial Secondary) and Rehman Esmail (Conquitlam, B.C., Canada/North Carolina State) defeated LCC's Michael Castillo and Henry Estrella. Gary Bianco (Annecy, France/Lycee Berthollet) and Oliver Steil (Brunssum, The Netherlands/AF North International School) would then finish off Alex Gonzalez and Thomas Olliver 9-7.
In singles action, the Broncs dropped matches in the first three flights, but playing in the No. 4 singles spot Steil took a quick win, 6-1 and 6-0, against Olliver. The match was then decided by the No. 5 singles match between Esmail and the Palominos Aaron Oladarieta. After dropping the first set 6-2, Esmail would battle back to even things up with a 6-3 score in the second. Esmail would then take the third by and identical score, 6-3, to record the individual as well as the team win. The No. 6 singles match was won by default due to LCC's limited players in the competition.
The Lady Broncs then went to work posting their doubles point as well. Katherin Barto (Laredo, TX/St. Augustine H.S.) and Silke Buksik (Waiblingen, Germany/Salier Gymnasium) posted an 8-4 score against LCC's top flight pair of Tanya Roberts and Merixtell Gol. The team then finished off the second and third doubles matches, 8-5, in both contests.
The women's team would find the same fate as the men as they dropped the singles matches in the top three spots. Elysia Sloan (Duncanville, TX/Duncanville H.S.) would the post the first points in No. 4 singles defeating Triana Palacios in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-0. Playing No. 5 singles, Angela Saenz (Premont, TX/Premont H.S.) would battle to victory, 8-6 and 7-5. The match would then be decided by a three-setter played in the last flight by UTPA's Monica Lopez (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.). Just as Esmail had to recover for the win on the men's side, so did Lopez who dropped the first set, 6-4, before winning the next two sets, 6-4 and 6-4.
Both the men's and women's tennis teams recorded 4-3 victories over LCC, this being the first match win for the Lady Broncs on the season. The teams will be back in action on April 2nd as they take to the road where the men will face Southeastern Louisiana, while the women face Lamar.
UTPA Sports Information
