SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team faces the #45 University of Portland Pilots on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the UTSA Tennis Center.
 
The Series
 
This is the first-ever meeting between the Broncs and the Pilots.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Broncs are coming off of a 7-0 loss in their Southland Conference opener at #67 University of Texas at San Antonio.
 
The Broncs played very competitive matches in doubles. The #1 team of Beau Bernstein and Chetan Panditi forced a tiebreaker against Yannick Junger and Pedro Zanotelli before falling 8-7 (7-4). In the #3 doubles match, Rolf Niederstrasser and Victor Alves were edged by Joel Rubio and Kolby Kilgo 8-5.
 
The Roadrunners took four of the six singles matches in straight sets. Bernstein came closest to earning a point in the #1 spot, falling 7-5, 6-3 to Junger. The Broncs also came close in the #6 position, but Neiderstrasser fell to Daniel Moser 7-5, 6-0.
 
Scouting the Pilots
 
The Pilots are 6-0, with all six matches coming at home. The Pilots have two wins against ranked teams, 5-2 over #56 Idaho and 4-3 over #54 UC Irvine. The Pilots also have wins against Montana State, UMKC, UC Davis and Gonzaga.
 
The Pilots have been dominants in doubles, going 14-4 in dual competition, including victories in all six matches in the #1 position with the duo of Alex Ferrero and Michel Hu Kwo and the all six matches in the #2 position with the duo of Geoff Hernandez and Stefan Micov.
 
In singles, the Pilots have used four different student-athletes in the #3 spot and three in the #4 spot, winning all six matches in each position. Ferrero is undefeated in singles, going 1-0 in the #3 position and 3-0 in the #4 position.
 
Player of the Week
 
Senior Beau Bernstein earned Southland Conference Player of the Week honors on February 14 thanks to a 6-0 weekend while leading the Broncs to three victories in three days.
 
Local Flavor
 
The Broncs have a Rio Grande Valley native on the squad. Freshman Shane Kyral is from Harlingen and was part of a Harlingen South High School team that was ranked #6 in the state, finishing as the regional runner up in the 5A school division.
 
Next Up
 
The Broncs open up a stretch of seven road matches in seven days when they visit Alcorn State University on March 8 at 3:00 p.m.