SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Heading into the fifth season under head coach Sergey Avdeyev, UTSA men’s tennis has finalized and announced the slate for the Roadrunners’ 2024 spring season, which features 10 home matches at the UTSA Tennis Center as part of the 20-match Roadrunners schedule. Competition is set to open on Jan. 13 at Oklahoma.
“Once again, we were able to make a very challenging spring schedule with many ranked opportunities and strong matches,” Avdeyev said. “We also feel excited about our home matches, which are filled with ranked teams and some other power conference programs. I wanted to challenge our experienced squad and see if we are able to repeat last year’s success. We believe in this group and are looking forward to kicking off this year.”
The Roadrunners are coming off a historic season that saw the program ranking record fall multiple times as UTSA climbed as high as No. 34 and finished the year at 42nd. The Roadrunners reeled off a 14-match win streak that topped the NCAA at the time and garnered the most wins since 1985 on an 18-7 finish – ending the year in the postseason as the program’s first-ever NCAA At-Large selection. UTSA returns 7-of-8 players from a year ago, including senior Alan Magadan, who ranked as high as the No. 6 ITA doubles pair with now-graduated partner Sebastian Rodriguez advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championships – the pair also claimed a program first ITA Regional Doubles Championship in 2022. Redshirt sophomore Tomás Pinho enters the season ranked No. 115 among ITA Singles and the Roadrunners will also see the return of Tiago Torres, Danijal Muminovic, Jackson Ross, Garrett Skelly and Miguel Alonso. Serbian-born Aleksa Markovic joins UTSA this semester as well.
On this year’s UTSA schedule, the Roadrunners are set to face 11 dates against teams ranked in the final 2022-23 ITA standings, including six teams that earned competition in the NCAA postseason.
UTSA opens on the road in Norman, Okla., Jan. 13, at OU – The Sooners were No. 31 in 2022-23 at 15-12 after an NCAA second-round finish. The Roadrunners will see their home opener one week later on Sunday, Jan. 21, hosting UT Rio Grande Valley – the final opponent to play at the UTSA Tennis Center last season.
The following weekend will be an early test for the Roadrunners, who head to Austin for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the University of Texas. On Saturday, Jan. 27, UTSA will start the weekend with Texas, a perennial top-tier squad that finished last season at No. 3 in the final ITA team standings on a 26-4 record. The outcome will determine if the Roadrunners face Utah or Oklahoma State on Sunday, Jan. 28, at the Texas Tennis Center. The Utes finished at No. 17 last year on a 24-6 record and second round NCAA finish on an at-large bid. The OSU Cowboys, who ranked No. 38 last year at 14-14 after reaching the second round of the NCAAs.
UTSA opens up February with a potential rematch against Utah on Saturday, Feb. 3 in Denver, before meeting host Denver on Sunday, Feb. 4. The Pioneers were 59th a year ago and 15-8 after reaching the second round of the UTR NIT Championship. UD traveled to San Antonio while the Roadrunners were red hot last season and suffered a 5-2 loss.
The Roadrunners will then meet Texas Tech for the third time in the last four years, traveling to Lubbock on Sunday, Feb. 11, to face the Red Raiders, who were No. 33 last year after ending the season in the NCAA first round at 14-12.
For the third neutral-site match of the year, UTSA will meet New Mexico in Wichita, Kan. on Saturday, Feb. 17, before taking on the home school, Wichita State, Sunday, Feb. 18. The UNM Lobos were 56th last year at 15-6, going undefeated in regular season Mountain West play. The Shockers were 11-16 and dropped a 4-0 match at UTSA late last February.
The final road trip of the season will send the Roadrunners to the Sunshine State, facing Miami on Friday, Feb. 23, and then heading up the coast to Florida Atlantic on Sunday, Feb. 25. UM was 15-10 last year and ranked No. 50, while the Owls were 58th at 13-11 and presented two tough victories for the Roadrunners when both were still Conference USA members in 2022-23.
After knocking out nine consecutive matches away from San Antonio, UTSA will end the season on a nine-match home stand, beginning with Utah State on Friday, March 1, and UT Arlington on Sunday, March 3. USU was 12-13 a year ago, while UTA was 16-8 and reached the NCAAs after winning both the WAC regular season and tournament titles.
On Friday, March 8, Kennesaw State (14-8 in 2023) will travel to San Antonio, ahead of a Friday, March 15 date against Pacific (5-15 in 2023) and Sunday, March 17 meeting with Georgia State (8-16 in 2023). GSU saw a 4-1 loss when the Panthers traveled to San Antonio last March.
The Roadrunners close out the month with a Friday, March 22 hosting of Dartmouth (11-14 in 2023) and a Tuesday, March 26 face-off with Oregon. The Ducks and Roadrunners meet for the third time and UO was 14-13 with a No. 48 ranking last year.
UTSA will host Texas-based teams in each of the final two weekends, closing out the regular season with Rice on Saturday, April 6, followed by the season finale against Incarnate Word on Saturday, April 13. A perennially strong and familiar foe, Rice snapped UTSA’s historic win streak in Houston on a razor-close 4-3 finish and ended the year ranked No. 61. UTSA will face the cross-town Cardinals for only the ninth time – UIW went 13-9 in 2023.
The 2024 postseason begins with UTSA’s inaugural opportunity at the American Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Tulsa and set for April 18-21 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Up through the Round of 16, the NCAA Championships will be held at campus Regional sites, with the opening rounds running May 3-4, followed by the R16, May 16-19. The final eight head to the Michael & Anne Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., May 16-19, for the National Championships – also the host site for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, May 20-25.
- UTSA -