EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team returns to the courts on Saturday as they host the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals at the Orville Cox Tennis Center at 2 p.m.

The Broncs return to action after having their last two matches cancelled. Admission is free and the public is welcomed to attend. Doors open at 1 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs recorded its first win of the spring dual match season after defeating the Prairie View A&M University Panthers 6-1 at the Prairie View A&M Tennis Complex.
 
"It was good for the guys to earn their first victory of the season," Broncs head coach Brandon Stokes said. "The last four days of competing and traveling has taught us tremendous amount about ourselves and college tennis. We are eager to return home and resume training."
 
The Broncs (1-2) got out to the early lead as they swept through the doubles matches. The duo of freshman Ethan Ammon and junior Hector Ramirez defeated the team of Jonathan Dingle and James Jackson Jr. 6-2. Sophomore Juan Cruz Soria and freshman Koby Jansen teamed up to beat the Panther's (0-1) team of Christian Waldron and Sergio Avella 6-3. Freshmen Miguel Alvarez-Hevia and Elliot Johnstone defeated Bruno Snyder and Ulride Boyogueno 6-4.
 
In singles, Crvelin extended the Broncs' lead with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Malik Norris at the No. 5 spot. Alvarez-Hevia followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Dingle at the No. 4 spot while Ethan Ammon added a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Freddy Quintero at the No. 6 position.
 
Johnstone added to the lead with a straight set victory over Avella 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot. After the Panthers took the match on court one, Jansen closed out the match with a victory over Snyder at the No. 2 spot. Jansen dropped the first set 3-6 but bounced back with a 6-0 win in the second set and clinched the match with a 10-6 win in the tiebreaker.
 
Scouting the Cardinals
The Cardinals (1-3) picked up their first win of the dual match season on January 30 when they defeated South Dakota State 5-2 at home.
 
The Cardinals opened the season with losses to the University of Texas at Arlington, Tulsa and Rice.
 
Leornid Ivic and Josip Smoljan lead the Cardinals with two singles wins each. Ivic has played all his matches at the No. 1 singles spot while Smoljan has played all his matches at the No. 2 spot.
 
Joey Vatanadilok was named Southland Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week. He was the only Cardinal to record a win in singles and doubles in the win over South Dakota State.
 
In doubles, the duo of Vatanadilok and Tucker Brown has posted a record of 2-1. They are the only doubles team to record a victory in the dual match season.
 
The Series
The Broncs are 2-2 all-time against the Cardinals in a series that dates back to 2001.
 
The Broncs and Cardinals have seen plenty of each other after competing against each other in the fall tournament season. They saw each other twice last spring as it was the Cardinals who swept the season series in 2014.
 
The Cardinals won 5-2 on February 16 in San Antonio and then won 4-3 on March 21 at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
The last time the Broncs beat the Cardinals in dual match competition was March 23, 2013. The Broncs picked up the 7-0 win at the Orville Cox Tennis Center
 
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 February 15 when they hit the road to face Nicholls State University in a neutral match in Houston.
   
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