SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s tennis team (3-4) will travel to the Sunflower State for a twin-billing weekend, facing New Mexico (6-2) in a neutral-site matchup on Saturday, then moving on to the host, Wichita State (2-5), on Sunday. Both matches are set to be played at the Genesis Rock Road tennis courts – allowing access to both indoor and outdoor courts.
Following this Week’s Matches
Neither match will have live video. For the first match of the weekend between the Roadrunners and Lobos on Saturday, there is not expected to be any live scoring information available. During Sunday’s contest with host Wichita State, check here for live stats.
Last Time Out
The Roadrunners traveled to Lubbock for an indoor match at Texas Tech amidst incoming snow. Needing to battle back from a doubles-point loss, Tiago Torres notched a court two victory over Lorenzo Esquici with the three-set 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 win to make it a 1-2 deficit. The Roadrunners battled down the line, but Texas Tech pulled out the 4-1 win.
About the Roadrunners
The Returning seven players from last year’s Conference USA Runner-up, the Roadrunners are in the fifth season under Avdeyev and looking make their mark on 2024 early, following one of the best seasons in program history. During the 2023 season, UTSA captured the most wins since 1985 on an 18-7 record, reached the final of the Conference USA Championships and earned the program’s first At-Large bid for the school’s fifth appearance in the NCAA Championships. In addition, the Roadrunners had a doubles pair earn the ITA Texas Region Championship – a program-first – and advance to the National Quarterfinal. That same tandem earned a postseason win and reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championships. On top of all that, UTSA set new program records for ITA team ranking multiple times, reaching as high as 34th and ending the season at No. 42.
In the latest ITA rankings, senior Alan Magadan and sophomore Tomás Pinho notched a No. 27 national doubles ranking after starting the season at 4-1, defeating then-No. 3 Eliot Spizzirri and Cleve Harper from fourth-ranked Texas during the ITA Kickoff Weekend, after topping Oklahoma’s currently-40th-ranked pair of Alex Martinez and Kholo Montsi. Last year, Magadan reached as high as No. 6 in the doubles rankings and was one half of the 27th-ranked pair in the final 2023 standings – settling in with new partners this year, Magadan initially appearing as half of the 44th-ranked tandem in the fall alongside Tiago Torres. In the Fall 2023 ITA South Region Championships, the pairings of Magadan/Pinho and Jackson Ross/Garrett Skelly both reached the semifinal round.
On the Slate this Week
UTSA will open this week’s action on a 1 p.m. neutral match against New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Genesis Rock Road courts. The New Mexico Lobos are off to a 6-2 start with five consecutive wins, including Louisiana (6-1), Utah (4-0) and Western New Mexico (7-0) last weekend at home. Prior to defeating Wichita State on Friday (4-3), the Lobos had only played one match away from home, a 3-4 loss at Arkansas. The Lobos finished last season ranked No. 56 after going 15-6 and undefeated in Mountain West play. Running a deep roster, UNM returns Mountain West Player of the Year Arda Azkara, ranking 122nd after finishing 15-5 last season, already 6-0 this year on the top court. All-Mountain West performer Aram Noroozian was 15-5 last year, but has seen a 3-3 start on court two so far.
At 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, UTSA takes on the hosting Wichita State Shockers for the third time in the past four years. The Shockers started 2-5 with wins over Grand Canyon and Omaha. Outside of their Friday loss against New Mexico (4-3), Wichita State had not been in action since a Feb. 2 loss at Oklahoma (7-0). Last season, the Shockers went 11-16, ending the year in the first round of the AAC tournament. Wichita State returns just five players from last year’s squad, topped by sophomore Alejandro Jacome, who won a team-best 16 singles matches across courts 2-5 with eight wins at No. 4. Working courts 4-6, sophomore Luke Bracks also earned eight wins last year. So far this season, freshman Vanja Hodzic is 3-3 to top the WSU win count after tying Jacome for a team-high eight singles wins in the fall.
Series Against the Opposition
Playing three times in Albuquerque, UTSA is 0-3 all-time against the Lobos, last meeting Feb. 25, 2017 with a 5-0 loss at UNM. Meeting the Shockers in back-to-back seasons, UTSA is 1-7 all-time against Wichita State and 0-4 when playing in Wichita. In the last meeting, Feb. 26, 2023, UTSA delivered a commanding 4-0 sweep over the Shockers in San Antonio.
Up Next
Next weekend will see a long road swing to the southeast, as UTSA heads to the Sunshine State to face Miami (FL) on Friday, Feb. 23 and then move on to Boca Raton for Florida Atlantic on Sunday, Feb. 25.
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