Live Stats
 
LUBBOCK – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team (0-0) opens up the spring dual season on Wednesday against the No. 29 Texas Tech University Red Raiders (0-0) at 10:00 a.m. at McLeod Tennis Center.
 
The Broncs
 
After competing in four fall tournaments, the Broncs are set to play 25 regular season dual matches. Junior Ricardo Hopker led the way in the fall, going 5-4 in singles and 1-4 in doubles. Junior Sebastien Job also had a strong fall, going 3-2 in singles and 2-2 in doubles. Among the newcomers, Thomas-Orestis Panoulas made the biggest splash, going 6-4 in singles and 2-3 in doubles.
 
Scouting the Red Raiders
 
Texas Tech is a veteran squad, boasting four seniors, one sophomore and one freshman. Three of those seniors, Vitor Manzini (No. 4), Francisco Zambon (No. 5) and Raphael Pfister (No. 6) had the experience of competing in the NCAA Championships last season, where they beat No. 63 Cal Poly 4-1 before getting edged by host No. 14 California, 4-3, in the regional championship.
 
Broncs vs. Red Raiders
 
The Broncs are 10-13 all-time against the Red Raiders in a series dating back to 1961. This is their first meeting since 2008.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Broncs closed the fall season at the ITA Regionals, with Yosua Adiyassa reaching the Back Draw semifinals and Panoulas advancing as far as the 2RC quarterfinals in singles.
 
Volunteering
 
After playing for the Broncs last season, sophomore Rolf Niederstrasser is spending this season as a volunteer assistant coach. Niederstrasser won five singles matches and four doubles matches as a freshman.
 
Globetrotters
 
The Broncs have nine student-athletes on the roster representing seven different countries, including the United States of America, Brazil, Belgium, Greece, India, Indonesia and Sweden. Of the two American Broncs, one is from the Rio Grande Valley. Sanoja calls Mission home.
 
Next Up
 
The Broncs visit No. 55 Rice on Sunday, January 27 at 3:00 p.m.