April 24, 2010
Final Stats
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - In the semi-finals round of the Southland Conference (SLC) Men's Tennis Tournament, the No. 4 seed University of Texas Pan American (UTPA) Broncs fell to the No. 1 UT-Arlington (UTA) Mavericks Saturday, April 24 at the H-E-B Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
"I told the guys before the match that there would be a price to pay in this match- mentally, emotionally and physically. And it was never more evident than after the doubles. We haven't lost the doubles point all year. But a few good serves, a couple of missed returns, and a few bad luck net cords put us in a hole," head coach Chris Taylor said. "But our guys were willing to go out there and pay the price in singles - such a tremendous effort from Nirv. In his last singles match as a Bronc, he came up huge to take back the momentum."
The Broncs lost their first conference doubles point of the season. Brothers Beau and Brett Bernstein were the only pair to come up with a win, defeating Dmitry Minkin and Mindaugas Celedinas 8-5 at line one. UTA's Brieuc Hamon and Yauheni Yakauleu topped Aswin Vijayaragavan and Nirvick Mohinta 8-3 at No. 2, and Adam Srkala and Gonzalo Bienzobas edged Marcus Dornauf and Andrew Irving 9-7 at line three.
"As always, the Bernstein boys were feeding off each other's energy and both came up big as well," Taylor said.
Both the Broncs and the Mavericks took three lines in singles competition. Mohinta claimed the first point for UTPA at No. 6 defeating Lateko 6-0, 6-3, but Dornauf fell at line four to Yakauleu 6-2, 6-2. Beau Bernstein outlasted Hamon 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) to claim line three, while senior Brett Bernstein topped Celedinas 7-6 (7-1), 6-4. However, the Broncs could not keep up the momentum. Irving fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Subirats at No. 5, and SLC Player of the Year Vijayaragavan was defeated 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 by Minkin at line one.
"My hat goes off to Brett. Going 4-0 in his last two matches as a senior. I could not be more proud of him. He will be missed," Taylor said.
"Winnie has been our rock all year. But we couldn't expect him to win every match. Minkin played some great tennis, and was able to hit more ball in the court than Winnie. That win will hurt him a lot, but I think it will motivate him to continue his hard work. And I expect him to be one of our biggest leaders on the court next year," Taylor said.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say that this loss hurts a lot. We had our chances. But I think in spite of the wins and losses this year, there is certainly something big we can take away from this season - that is we have laid a very solid foundation for success in the coming years. In the past we may have struggled, but this season has most certainly ushered in a new era of Bronc Tennis. We've established some new traditions and we've set higher goals and we expect to obtain them," Taylor said.
"We'll hit the recruiting road hard this summer, and put our sites on the 2011-12 season," Taylor said.
The Broncs finish the season 9-11 overall and 2-3 SLC.
For the latest UTPA Athletics information, follow us on Twitter @BuckyTheBronc and @UTPA_AD.
UT Arlington 4, UTPA 3
04/24/10; Corpus Christi, Texas; H-E-B Tennis Center
Singles competition
1. Dmitry Minkin (UTA) def. Aswin Vijayaragavan (UTPA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2. Brett Bernstein (UTPA) def. Mindaugas Celedinas (UTA) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
3. Beau Bernstein (UTPA) def. Brieuc Hamon (UTA) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Yauheni Yakauleu (UTA) def. Marcus Dornauf (UTPA) 6-1, 6-2
5. David Subirats (UTA) def. Andrew Irving (UTPA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. Nirvick Mohinta (UTPA) def. Jason Lateko (UTA) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Brett Bernstein/Beau Bernstein (UTPA) def. Dmitry Minkin/Mindaugas Celedinas (UTA) 8-5
2. Brieuc Hamon/Yauheni Yakauleu (UTA) def. Aswin Vijayaragavan/Nirvick Mohinta (UTPA) 8-3
3. Adam Srkala/Gonzalo Bienzobas (UTA) def. Marcus Dornauf/Andrew Irving (UTPA) 9-7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,4,3,2,5,1)
Match three of the 2010 Men's Southland Conference Tennis Tournament
UTPA Athletics Media Relations
