EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team faces the New Mexico State University Aggies on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Orville Cox Tennis Center for their second conference match of the season.
 
Admission is free and the public is welcomed to attend. It is the second day of hosting conference matches at the Orville Cox Tennis Center as five of the six conference teams are in attendance. The schedule for the rest of the weekend is as follows:
Saturday
Grand Canyon vs. Chicago State – 12 p.m.
UTPA vs. New Mexico State - 5:30 p.m.
 
Sunday
Grand Canyon vs. New Mexico State - 9:00 a.m.
UTPA vs. Kansas City - 1:30 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs recorded their first Western Athletic Conference win of the season after defeating the Grand Canyon University Antelopes 4-3 on Friday.
 
The match was clinched at 4-2 but with the final match already in the third set, they were allowed to finish out as the Antelopes (8-8) picked up the final point.
 
The Broncs (5-9) rallied after dropping the doubles point as they won the first two singles matches. Freshman Miguel Alvarez-Hevia got the Broncs on the board with a 6-1, 6-3 over Meidy Chazeau at No. 4 singles.
 
After being named WAC Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, junior Hector Ramirez opened his weekend with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Alexander Roggenkamp at No. 2 singles, for his first conference win of the season.
 
After the Antelopes picked up a point on court five, freshman Elliot Johnstone got the point back at No. 6 singles. He dropped the first set 2-6 to Gregoire Balenci but bounced back with a 7-6 win in the second set and then closed out the match with a 6-4 win in the third.
 
Sophomore Juan Cruz Soria put the finishing touches on the match as he defeated Felix Schueller at No. 1 singles. Soria won the first set 6-4 but fell 5-7 in the second set. He bounced back with a 6-4 win in the third to clinch the point and the match for the Broncs.
 
Not One, Not Two But Three Athletes of the Week
Hector Ramirez became the third Bronc to be named WAC Athlete of the Week this season after his performance last weekend.
 
Ramirez went 3-1 in singles last week, while playing all of his matches at the No. 2 position. Ramirez recorded a 6-0, 6-2 victory over No. 63 UT Arlington's Stefan Williams and then followed that with a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 10-7 victory over No. 8 Texas' Nick Naumann. He closed out his weekend with a 6-0, 6-3 win over St. Edwards' Ricardo Pineda for his third straight victory.
 
Koby Jansen earned the honor on February 24 and then Juan Cruz Soria was named athlete of the week on March 3.
 
Scouting the Aggies
The Aggies are 5-11 entering Saturday's matchup with the Broncs. The Aggies have recorded wins over UC Riverside, Weber State, Western New Mexico, Alabama-Birmingham and Kansas City.
 
The Aggies bring back six players from last year's 12-11 squad in Charles Baron, Germain Degardin, Paul Denele, Liam Goldberg, Patrick Pfister and Strahinja Trecakov.
 
The Series
The Broncs are 3-3 all-time against the Aggies in a series that dates back to 1975. The last time these two teams played against each other was on February 21, 2009 as the Aggies came away with the 7-0 victory.
 
The last time the Broncs defeated the Aggies came in the 1994 season.  
 
Globetrotters
The Broncs have seven student-athletes representing six countries including, Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Mexico, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago.
 
Next Up
The Broncs wrap up their weekend as they face Kansas City on Sunday at 1:30 at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.  

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