| Freshman Martin Ayala picked up wins in both singles and doubles in his UTSA debut. |
SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA men’s tennis team opened up their 2010 season with a 7-0 sweep of Prairie View A&M on Saturday at the UTSA Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners jumped out to the early 1-0 lead by sweeping the doubles competition.
At No. 3, junior Max Stratmann paired with freshman Tyler Brown to knock out Jose Garcia and Jimmy Yates, 8-3. UTSA captured the doubles point when the senior-freshman duo of Rodrigo Morgado and Martin Ayala defeated Kristen Powell and Craig Wiltz Jr., 8-4. Junior Daniel Moreiras and sophomore Pedro Zanotelli also picked up awin at the No. 2 spot when they beat Kuda Nyatoti and Ronald Chidzikwe,9-8 (7-2).
“The guys did what they needed to do to get the job done in doubles today,” head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein said. “I’m still playing with my doubles pairings and trying to decide what combinations I like, but they took care of business today.”
In singles action, Ayala made quick work of Nyatoti at the top spot with a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Zanotelli dropped Christopher Jordan in straight sets at No. 6, 6-0, 6-3, while senior Jorge Delgado sealed the win for the Roadrunners, knocking out Powell, 6-1, 6-4, at the No. 5 spot.
Brown and Moreiras picked up straight-set wins at the Nos. 2 and 4 spots, respectively, while Strattman and Chidzikwe split their first two sets, 6-0, 4-6, before Strattman took the match in the third-set super-tiebreaker, 10-7.
“I’m excited about our team this year,” Trittenwein said. “The thing about these guys is that they are very competitive. They’re not the kind of guys that are going to lie down and get beaten up. They’re going to take the match to their opponents.
“It was a good match for us overall to get a win under our belts and to figure out a little about where we are right now. I liked a lot of the things I saw out there today, but I also saw some things that we can work on and tighten up as we move on in the season.”
The Roadrunners will be back in action on Sunday when they host Laredo Community College at 10 a.m.