Bracket

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The sixth-seeded University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team (3-16) faces off against the third-seeded Seattle University Redhawks (10-13) in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. at the New Mexico State Tennis Center.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs closed out their regular season with a 3-4 loss to the Laredo Community College Palominos, the No. 2 ranked junior college.
 
The Broncs grabbed the early advantage against the Palominos in doubles. The team of Joseph Bishop and Mauricio Fosado defeated Eman Estandi and Herbert Best 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. After the Palominos took the match at No. 1 doubles, the duo of Alejandro Sanoja and Juan Cruz Soria defeated Arturo Pinazo and Hamid Derbani at the No. 2 spot to clinch the point.
 
The Palominos opened singles competition with a win at the No. 1 and 4 positions. Fosado then followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Estandi at No. 6 singles and Bishop beat Regaldo 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.
 
Seniors Ricardo Hopker and Chetan Panditi played their final regular season matches of their career as they took their matches to three sets before falling at No. 2 and 3 singles. Hopker dropped his opening set 3-6 and then bounced back with a 6-4 win in the second set but fell 3-6 in the final set to Derbani. Panditi opened with a 7-6 first set victory before falling 3-6 in the second and third sets as the Palominos took the match.
 
Scouting the Redhawks
The Redhawks are 10-13 on the season after closing out their regular season with a win over Portland State on April 11.  
 
Kevin Lynch and Connor Leahy pace the Redhawks with 12 singles victories each while Riley Newman and Zach Kosanke have also recorded double-digit victories.
 
In doubles competition, Lynch teamed with Jason Bediones for nine doubles victories, which lead the team, while playing mainly at No. 1 doubles.
 
Lynch earned his second career WAC Player of the Week honor last week after picking up a pair of victories at No. 1 singles in the Redhawks' matches against Pacific Lutheran and Portland State. He also earned a pair of doubles victories with Bediones.
 
 
The Series
The Broncs are 1-0 all-time against Seattle University in a series that dates back to 1980.
 
Globetrotters
The Broncs have eight student-athletes representing six countries including, Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, India, Mexico and the United States. Sanoja is from the Rio Grande Valley as he calls Mission home.
 
Next Up
The winner of this quarterfinals match will face second-seeded Idaho on Saturday at 2 p.m. 

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