CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs women' tennis team (0-4) visits the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (3-0) on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. at Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
 
The Broncs
The Broncs picked up their first match points of the season at UTSA on Sunday, as Wanda Beguelin defeated Alena Shichkova 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 and Anastasia Burobina (UTPA) beat Kavya Menon (UTSA) 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4. Beguelin and Burobina also teamed up for the Broncs' lone doubles win, 8-5 over Flavia Araujo and Kimberley-Ann Surin of No. 36 Arkansas on Jan. 19.
 
Scouting the Islanders
The Islanders are off to an undefeated start, with a 4-3 win over Houston, a 6-1 win over Central Arkansas and a 7-0 win over Prairie View A&M.
 
The Islanders are undefeated in doubles, sporting an 8-0 record while using six different pairings. Doris Kuselj and Stefania Nicolae are 2-0 at No. 1 while Sandra Burges and Chelsea Horan are 2-0 at No. 2.
 
By winning the doubles point, the Islanders have only needed three singles win to clinch each match, and they've always gotten those at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, where they are a combined 9-0. Burges, Nicolae and Maider Martin are each 3-0 while Celia Delgado is 2-0 and Ashley Garza is 1-0.
 
The Series
This is the 20^th meeting all-time between the Broncs and Islanders in a series dating back to 2000. The Broncs are looking for their third win.
 
The Broncs last beat the Islanders in 2007, when they swept a two-match series, winning 4-2 on a neutral court at Abilene Christian on February 3, and then winning 4-3 in Corpus Christi two weeks later.
 
Last season, the Broncs fell 0-6 in Corpus Christi.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs fell are coming off of a 2-5 loss at UTSA on Sunday.
 
The Broncs picked up wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles as Wanda Beguelin beat Alena Shichkova 6-2, 6-2 and Anastasia Burobina beat Kavya Menon 6-4, 6-2, respectively.
 
The Broncs were close to taking a third match as well. At No. 5, Lucie Chrastecka bounced back from a 2-6 first set loss to Miranda Poile to win the second set 6-4 and force a super tiebreaker, which Polie won 10-7.
 
The Broncs were on the verge of winning a double match as well, as the No. 3 match was stopped with Chrastecka and Reegan Greenwood leading 7-4, one game away from victory, with the doubles point already decided.
 
Ranked Win
The Broncs picked up their lone win of the season thus far in doubles against No. 36 Arkansas, as the No. 2 duo of Anastasia Burobina and Wanda Beguelin defeated Flavia Araujo and Kimberly - Ann Surin 8-5.
 
When in Roma…
The Broncs have one local student-athlete in Roma-native and freshman Julia Perez. During her four years at Roma High School, Perez went 72-0 and never lost a district match. She was District 32-4A MVP, First Team All-Valley and First Team All-District in Doubles all four years. She was also the 2009 and 2011 singles district champion, as well as the 2012 doubles district champion. The Gladiators won the district title every year she was there and were ranked No. 12 in the state in 2011. Perez also led the Gladiators on a 52-match winning streak in district play.
 
In addition to her stellar tennis play, Perez was a regional qualifier in swimming all four years, led the golf team to their first ever regional tournament, led the basketball team to the 2012 playoffs, and earned honorable mention in golf in 2011 and 2012 in basketball in 2011.
 
Globetrotters
The Broncs currently have eight student-athletes on the roster representing eight different countries, including Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, The Netherlands, Russia and the United States.
 
Next Up
The Broncs host the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in their home opener at the Orville Cox Tennis Center on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Admission is free.