Live Stats

HOUSTON – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team hits the road for the first time this spring, as they face the No. 75 Rice University Owls on Friday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center at 5 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs fell 3-4 to the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers on Wednesday at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
"I thought it was a fun first match of the season," Broncs head coach Brandon Stokes said. "It was fun, exhilarating and intense for the new guys who handled themselves liked seasoned veterans. We know who we are already and I knew who we were half way through this match."
 
The Broncs (0-1) jumped out to the early lead in doubles as the team of Nikola Crvelin and Hector Ramirez defeated UMBC's duo of Eliot Loubatie and Kamal Patel 6-2. After the Retrievers took court two, their duo of Daniel Gray and Alex Drean defeated Juan Cruz Soria and Koby Jansen 6-5 to clinch the doubles point.
 
In singles, the Retrievers (1-0) took the win on court three but the Broncs answered back with a win on court six as Ethan Ammon defeated Patel 6-1, 7-4. After falling on court one, the Broncs rallied to tie the match. Alvarez-Hevia beat Loubatie in three sets 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 and then Jansen went three sets with Svard winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
 
It all came down to the match on court five between Crvelin and Gray. Gray won the first set 6-4 before Crvelin came back to win the second set 7-6 but UMBC clinched the match as Gray won the final set 6-3.
 
"I am pumped and excited for what the future holds," Stokes said. "Not just this year but two, three and four years down the road. They are putting the work in and then they go to school and study hall. They are on point and they are setting a whole new standard for the program. I am really proud of them for it."
 
Scouting the Owls
The Owls are currently 1-1 on the early part of the spring season. After falling 4-3 to UTSA on January 16, they bounced back with a 4-1 victory over No. 60 Cornell on January 18.
 
David Warren leads the Owls with a 2-0 record so far this spring. He picked up both victories while playing in the No. 5 singles position. In doubles, Warren has teamed with Max Andrews to post a 2-0 record while playing in the No. 1 doubles position.
 
Jamie Malik is 1-0 on the spring season while picking up that victory in the No. 2 singles position. He led the Owls with 12 singles victories in the fall.
 
The Owls will play host to the University of the Incarnate Word at 12 p.m. on Friday before facing the Broncs at 5 p.m.
 
The Series
The Broncs are 17-23 all-time against the Owls in a series that dates back to 1960. The last time these two teams met was on March 15, 2014 as the Owls defeated the Broncs 6-0 in Houston.
 
Globetrotters
The Broncs have seven student-athletes representing six countries including, Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Mexico, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago.
 
Next Up
The Broncs are back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when they continue their three-match road trip against the Prairie View A&M Panthers. 

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