March 7, 2007
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American men's and women's tennis programs pulled off one of their biggest victories in recent years as the Broncs and Lady Broncs both posted triumphs over Big East Conference-opponent Connecticut in San Antonio, TX, on Wednesday (Mar. 7).
UTPA Broncs 6, Connecticut 1
The Broncs posted a dominating 6-1 victory over the Huskies as UTPA started off the contest with all three doubles' teams recording victories in their respective matches.
David Lopez-Heredia (Pima, Republic of Panama/Eckerd College) and Brett Bernstein (Sugar Land, TX/Austin H.S.) posted an 8-5 victory over Ben Schueler and Joe Goldstein in the number-one doubles' position.
Ivan Avila (Mexico City, Mexico/Texas Southern) and Nirvick Mohinta (Calcutta, West Bengal, India/University of New Orleans) recorded an 8-5 victory over Joey Michaels and Christian Malerba in the number-two position.
Gary Bianco (Annecy, France/Lycee Berthollet) and Shashank Vij (Helsinki, Finland/University of New Orleans) capped off the Broncs' victory in doubles' action with an 8-6 victory over Nate Carvalho and Thomas Cook in the number-three position.
In singles' action, Avila recorded a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Schueler in the number-one position while Bianco defeated Michaels by scores of 6-1 and 6-1 for the victory in the number-two position.
Lopez-Heredia defeated Goldstein by scores of 6-4 and 6-2 in the number-three position while Bernstein handed Carvalho a 6-3, 6-4 setback in the number-five spot of the lineup. Mohinta defeated Michaels in straight sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-3 while the Huskies recorded their only victory of singles' action at the number-four position where Malerba defeated Vij in three sets by scores of 6-7, 7-5 and 11-9.
"We really came out strong and set the tone in the doubles' competition," said head men's and women's tennis coach Rob Hubbard. "I was pleased with the way that we played, and the guys continue to get better and stronger with every passing match. We are really playing good tennis right now so hopefully we can continue this play in our upcoming matches."
The Broncs will be back in action on Mar. 15th when they welcome Marist to the Rio Grande Valley with match time set for 2:00 p.m.
UTPA Lady Broncs 5, Connecticut 2
The Lady Broncs recorded their fourth straight victory as UTPA handed the Huskies a 5-2 setback on Wednesday afternoon.
In doubles' action, Giana Oliveira (Santa Anna, Brazil/Eckerd College) and Julia Cirne-Lima (Porto Alegre, Brazil/Eckerd College) recorded an 8-6 victory over Jessica Porter and Breann Cheung in the number-one flight. The victory by the UTPA duo turned out to be the deciding point for the triumph in doubles' action.
Stephanie Willerding (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Northview Heights S.S.) and Luisa Cantu (Victoria, Tamps, Mexico/Colegio Jose de Escandon) dropped an 8-3 decision to Kelley LoRusso and Alison Campitiello in the number-two position.
Megan Bedeau (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada/Northview Heights S.S.) and Silke Buksik (Waiblingen, Germany/Salier-Gymnasium Waiblingen) defeated Elizabeth Dibbs and Christine Burek by a score of 8-2 in the number-three position.
In singles' action, Oliveira captured a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Burek in the number-one spot of the rotation while Cirne-Lima recorded a hard-fought three-set decision over LoRusso by scores of 5-7, 6-1 and 6-4 in the number-two flight.
The Huskies recorded their first point of the afternoon when Porter handed Willerding a 6-7 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6) and 6-4 setback in the number-three position. Bedeau defeated Cheung in the number-three position by scores of 6-3, 4-6 and 6-4 in the number-four spot to give the Lady Broncs' their fifth point of the match.
Buksik suffered a 3-6, 6-2 and 6-2 setback to Campitiello in the number-five position while Cantu posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Petruzzi in the number-six position of the lineup.
"This was a hard-fought victory for the women, and I'm very proud for the way that they battled and hung in there together. This was a match that could've swung either way with four matches that went to three sets, but we were able to pull out a very big win for our program," added Hubbard.
The Lady Broncs will be back in action on Mar. 15th when they square-off against Stephen F. Austin at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
UTPA Sports Information
