CHICAGO – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team closes out its conference schedule on Saturday when they face the Seattle University Redhawks at 8 a.m. at the Chicago State Tennis Courts.
The Broncs are 3-1 in conference play and the conference standings will determine the seeding for the WAC Tournament, which begins on April 24 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Last Time OutThe picked up its third conference win of the season after defeating the Chicago State University Cougars 6-1 on Friday.
The Broncs (8-11, 3-1 WAC) opened up doubles competition with a win on court three as the team of
Miguel Alvarez-Hevia and
Elliot Johnstone defeated Christian Gonzalez and Rashley Yeremia, 8-4. After the Cougars (4-14, 0-2 WAC) tied it with a win on court two, the team of
Ethan Ammon and
Hector Ramirez secured the doubles point for the Broncs with an 8-6 win over Julian Chavez and Rohan Wattley on court two.
The Broncs carried the momentum into singles.
Koby Jansen helped the Broncs extend their lead with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Chavez at No. 3 singles.
Juan Cruz Soria followed with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mario Noboa at No. 1 singles and then it was Ammon who clinched the match for the Broncs with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Yeremia at No. 5 singles.
The Cougars got their lone point on court four but the Broncs closed out the final two matches.
Hector Ramirez dropped his first set 6-7 to Sergiu Muresan at No. 2 singles but he bounced back with a 6-3 in the second set before closing out his match with a 6-2 win in the third.
Nikola Crvelin recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Wattley at No. 6 singles to put the final touches on the match.
WAC Athletes of the WeekFor the fourth time this season, a Bronc was named WAC Athlete of the Week.
Juan Cruz Soria earned his second honor of the season and the third of his career, on March 31, after going undefeated in singles play during the first WAC Cluster of the season.
Koby Jansen earned the honor on February 24, Soria was named athlete of the week on March 3 and
Hector Ramirez earned the honor on March 24.
Scouting the RedhawksThe Redhawks are 5-13 heading into their matchup against the Broncs.
The Redhawks have recorded victories over Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Idaho State and Portland State. The Redhawks were scheduled to face Chicago State and Kansas City in Edinburg but were unable to make the trip.
The SeriesThis will be the third meeting all-time between UTPA and Seattle U. The Broncs are 2-0 all-time against the Redhawks in a series that dates back to 1980. These two teams faced each other last season after 34 years and it was the Broncs who came away with the 4-2 win at the WAC Tournament.
GlobetrottersThe Broncs have seven student-athletes representing six countries including, Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Mexico, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago.
Next UpThe Broncs close out their regular season on Wednesday when they head to Corpus Christi to face the No. 53 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at 2 p.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
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