EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team (1-2) hosts the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (0-1) at the newly renovated Orville Cox Tennis Center on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
 
Admission is free.
 
The Broncs
The Broncs are coming off of their first dual victory of the season in their first of three-straight home matches. Thomas-Orestis Panoulas leads the way in dual play with a 2-1 record at No. 1 singles. The Broncs most successful doubles pairing has been Sebastien Job and Alejandro Sanoja. After playing a close match at No. 29 Texas Tech, the duo was moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 and has gone 2-0, winning at No. 54 Rice and against the No. 7 junior college, Laredo Community College.
 
Scouting the Roadrunners
The Roadrunners fell 0-7 at No. 67 TCU last Saturday. Senior Martin Ayala and freshman Diogo Casa collected the Roadrunners' lone victory against the Horned Frogs with an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles.
 
Broncs vs. Roadrunners
The Broncs are and Roadrunners are former Southland Conference opponents that have met regularly over the years. UTSA is now in the WAC and will be in Conference USA next year. The Broncs are 22-26 all-time against the Roadrunners in a series dating back to 1982. In their final meeting as conference opponents last year, the then No. 67 Roadrunners beat the Broncs 7-0 in San Antonio.
 
Home Sweet Home
The Broncs are coming off of their first home win under second year head coach Paul Goode. The Broncs are in a stretch of six out of seven matches at home, including two stretches of three in a row.
 
The Broncs played five home matches last year, all at the end of the season. This year the Broncs play 10 home matches, including three three-match home stands.
 
This is the most home matches the Broncs have had in a single season since the turn of the century.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs are coming off of a 4-3 victory over the Laredo Community College Palominos, the No. 7 ranked team among junior colleges and defending NJCAA champions. The doubles point, which turned out to be critical, was hotly contested. With the scored tied 1-1, No. 1 doubles went to a tiebreaker, when Sebastien Job and Alejandro Sanoja won 7-4.
 
Three singles matches went to a third set, but with the match tied 3-3, Thomas-Orestis Panoulas came out as a winner at No. 1 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 to give the Broncs their first win of the season.
 
Tough Schedule
The Broncs are challenging themselves this season and currently boast a schedule that includes 10 matches against ranked opponents:
 
Division I ranked opponents (0-2):
1/16 @ No. 29 Texas Tech, L 1-6
1/27 @ No. 54 Rice, L 0-7
2/16 @ No. 14 Baylor
3/19 @ No. 56 Arkansas
3/30 @ No. 67 TCU
4/3 vs. No. 74 Louisiana Lafayette
4/15 @ No. 74 Louisiana Lafayette
 
Division II ranked opponents (0-0):
3/1 vs. No. 44 St. Mary's
3/23 vs. No. 18 Incarnate Word
 
Junior College ranked opponents (1-0):
2/1 vs. No. 7 Laredo Community College, W 4-3
 
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 conclude this three-match home stand on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. when they open Southland Conference play against Nicholls State at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. Admission is free.