TULSA, Okla. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley men's tennis team hits the road again as they are set to face Oral Roberts University on Friday at the Philcrest Hills Tennis Club at 6:30 p.m.
 
"For the second weekend in a row we are playing highly ranked opponents," UTRGV head coach Dann Neslon said. "Oklahoma State is ranked No. 14 in the nation and Oral Roberts is a team with lots of depth. We had a good week of practice and we are looking forward to competing against some excellent competition."
 
Last Time Out
UTRGV's (0-1) match against Prairie View A&M was postponed due to heavy rain in the area after falling to Rice University 0-7 in their season opener up in Houston.
 
Rice swept through doubles but it was UTRGV's team of Elliot Johnstone and Mateo Schmit who game the ninth ranked doubles team of Tommy Bennett and David Warren a run for their money. The match stayed close throughout but it was Rice who came away with the 6-4 victory.
 
In singles, Schmit, who made his collegiate debut, went toe-to-toe with Emanuel Llamas. Schmit won the first set 7-6 before falling 6-4 in the second and then 1-0 in the tiebreaker.
  
Scouting Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts (2-0) opened the season with a sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff last weekend in Tulsa.
 
ORU won every doubles and singles match against UAPB except for the two that went unfinished.
 
ORU returns eight from last year's squad including Michael Sosnowski, who won 15 matches last season, Amar Saletovic, who won 13 matches last season, Jan Pehnec, who also won 13 matches last season, and Barnabas Koncz, who won 12 matches last season.
 
ORU breaks up their best doubles team from last year of Braxton Bates and Sosnowski after Bates graduated last year. They went 13-5 last season.
 
The All-Time Series
UTRGV is 7-8 all-time in a series that dates back to 1969. The last time these two teams met was back on February 1, 2014 when UTRGV picked up a 4-3 win at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
UTRGV has won the last three matches against ORU.
 
Next Up
UTRGV will back in action on Saturday when they face No. 14 Oklahoma State University at Greenwood Tennis Center at 1 p.m. 

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