| Dr. Oliver Trittenwein |
SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA men’s tennis team opens its 2009 season this weekend with a pair of road matches. The Roadrunners begin their campaign at Prairie View A&M at 2 p.m. on Thursday and conclude their road trip the following day at Rice.
Head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein enters his 10th season and he has led UTSA to four consecutive trips to the Sothland Conference Tournament finals. He welcomes back an experienced team that features four first-team all-conference performers. Among the returnees are junior Rodrigo Morgado and sophomores Daniel Moreiras and Max Stratmann, all of whom received all-league accolades last spring. Also back is senior Andre Moreira, who was a first teamer in 2006.
Junior transfer Jorge Delgado (Louisiana-Lafayette) and freshmen Pedro Zanotelli and Shariq Khan are expected to see of action throughout the singles and doubles lineups this weekend.
2009 Season Outlook
Fresh off its fourth consecutive Southland Conference Tournament finals appearance, UTSA looks to make another run at the SLC Championship this season under the direction of 10th-year head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein. The Roadrunners welcome back five letterwinners and a pair of newcomers from last year’s squad that posted an 11-12 overall record and 3-3 mark in league play.
“We have a complete team from top to bottom as we enter the spring season,” Trittenwein said. “The combination of our returning players and newcomers give us the balance that I have not had in past years. The guys coming back have a lot of playing experience, which will give us an advantage as we begin the season.”
Four players collected postseason honors a year ago. Junior Rodrigo Morgado, the 2007 SLC Freshman of the Year, paired up with sophomore Daniel Moreiras for first-team All-SLC accolades at No. 2 doubles, while senior Robin Fernandes and sophomore Max Stratmann garnered the circuit’s top honors at No. 3 doubles. Moreiras added second-team all-conference accolades at No. 5 singles.
| Rodrigo Morgado |
Singles
Trittenwein will have a trio of Brazilians playing at the top of his lineup. Moreira or Morgado will split time playing at No. 1 and freshman Pedro Zanotelli will man the No. 3 position in place of Fernandes, who will sit out the year due to injury.
Morgado accumulated an 11-11 singles record with six of his 11 victories coming at the No. 2 spot a year ago. The Balneario Camboriu, Brazil, native also posted a 4-2 mark in conference play and collected 10 doubles wins, including a perfect 6-0 ledger with teammate Moreiras en route to all-conference accolades.
Moreira has tallied 28 career singles triumphs in his three seasons in the Alamo City. Despite battling injuries last season, he played every position but No. 1 and managed to post nine victories in doubles and seven singles wins.
Zanotelli, who hails from Fortaleza, Brazil, made his Roadrunners debut this fall, where he collected his first collegiate win at the ITA Regionals on Oct. 3. Zanotelli also picked up a singles victory at the UTSA Invitational the following week.
Junior Jorge Delgado, who transferred from Louisiana-Lafayette, will command the No. 4 singles slot. As a sophomore, he posted a 10-8 singles record and also picked up three doubles wins. The El Paso native was tabbed a 2005 Student-Athlete of the Year at Blessed Hope Academy, where he was a four-year letterwinner.
Making his presence known on the team and in the league in just his first season was Moreiras, who was an all-league performer at the No. 5 position last season. The San Antonio native made an immediate impact with a team-best 16-6 singles record and a 5-1 mark in league play. Eleven of his 16 triumphs came at the No. 5 slot, including a 3-1 mark in conference action.
Stratmann will again line up at No. 6 this year. The Bonn, Germany, native went 7-14 overall and 3-3 in SLC play. He collected his first-ever title by winning the UTSA Invitational Singles Consolation Orange Draw in the fall. He also teamed with Fernandes for a 6-1 mark at No. 2 doubles, including a 3-0 SLC record, en route to all-conference honors at that position.
Incoming freshman transfer Shariq Khan will see plenty of action throughout the bottom order of the lineup. The Sugar Land native transferred from Prairie View A&M prior to the spring semester and was a member of an Austin High School squad that was a top-five team in 2008.
| Daniel Moreiras |
Doubles
One of the top three doubles pairings in the league return in first-team All-SLC performers Moreiras and Morgado at the No. 2 spot. The duo posted a perfect 5-0 record and was undefeated in conference play (3-0).
Meanwhile, Trittenwein will send a new lineup onto the court at the Nos. 1 and 3 spots this spring.
Playing in the top position will be the tandem of Moreira and Zanotelli, while Delgado and Stratmann are slated to team up at No. 3.
Schedule
UTSA is scheduled to play 21 dual matches, 11 of which will be contested in the Alamo City, and a full slate of six conference matches. This year’s SLC Tournament will be held on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from April 24-26.