SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s tennis team (9-8) have back-to-back dates this weekend at the UTSA Tennis Center to close out the 2024 home slate. The Roadrunners have Incarnate Word (18-3) coming across town on Saturday for UTSA’s Senior Day celebration with the trio of Alan Magadan, Jackson Ross and Garrett Skelly. On Sunday, the redux is set from last week’s postponement, as No. 53 Rice (14-7) returns to San Antonio on Sunday to cap off the regular season for both squads.
Following along with this week’s matches
UTSA will face the UIW Cardinals on Saturday, April 13, at 11 a.m. The meeting with the Rice Owls is set for Sunday, April 14, at 1 p.m. Neither match is set for live video, but the Roadrunners will have live stats at the following links:
UTSA vs. UIW | UTSA vs. No. 53 Rice
Roadrunner Seniors
Alan Magadan transferred to UTSA from Tyler Junior College prior to the 2022-23 school year and has had a rich impact on the program’s rising trajectory over the past two years. Originally from McAllen, Texas and Memorial High School, Magadan holds a 20-10 singles record and is 22-12 in doubles, including three ranked doubles wins. He was a 2023 All-Conference USA first-teamer in singles and earned second team honors in doubles. His first season was highlighted on both ends by winning the ITA Texas Regional championship in doubles, moving on to reach the national quarterfinal and earn a No. 6 national ranking – then becoming one half of UTSA’s first NCAA doubles qualifier and also was the first to notch a postseason win. This season, Magadan reached the Singles Qualifying Round at the 2023 ITA All-American Championships and the semifinal round of the 2023 ITA Texas Region Championships. Entering Saturday’s match, he and partner Miguel Alonso have the cleanest record since making a lineup switch in March, coming in at 5-0. Magadan is earning his BBA in Marketing with a minor in Sport Management.
Jackson Ross is originally from San Antonio and a product of FIT HP Tennis Academy, returning to the Alamo City in 2022-23 after two seasons at Auburn. He has a career UTSA record of 14-11 in singles and is 18-12 in doubles – including a team-leading 9-3 record with partner and fellow senior Garrett Skelly this season. Last fall, Ross and Skelly reached the doubles semifinal at the 2023 ITA South Regional Championships, moving past pairs from UIW, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech. Over the past two seasons, Ross has captured victories that helped UTSA to ranked victories over Old Dominion, Utah State and Oregon. Ross is earning his BBA in Cyber Security.
Garrett Skelly comes from The Woodlands, Texas and TWHS, returning to the Lone Star State after the program was eliminated in his first year at George Washington. He’s accrued a 21-18 singles record and 41-26 doubles record, including his team-leading 9-3 mark with fellow senior Jackson Ross this season. Skelly was named to the 2021 All-Conference USA doubles second team, posting a 13-2 doubles record, along with a 7-2 singles mark that season. He teamed with Javier Gonzalez in 2022 for a doubles victory over the opposition from third-ranked Texas, and he has delivered victories over the past two years that helped UTSA claim ranked wins over Florida Atlantic, Texas A&M, Oregon, Utah State and Old Dominion. Last fall, Skelly reached the doubles semifinal at the 2023 ITA South Regional Championships, defeating pairs from UIW, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech. He has been a two-year team representative of the squad on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Skelly is earning his BBA in Management Science.
Last Time Out
The weather was not cooperative last week, pushing that match to Sunday of this week. UTSA last played on March 26, notching the second ranked victory in the month of March, and the fifth win in the last six outings with a dominant sweep of 62nd-ranked Oregon at home. UTSA hit the courts hard from the opening serve of doubles, led off by a ranked doubles win on the top court via Tomás Pinho and Tiago Torres defeating 33rd-ranked Matthew Burton and Quinn Vandecasteele, 6-1. Jackson Ross and Garrett Skelly continued their victory-heavy run this season, putting away David Cierny and Avi Shugar, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point for UTSA. UTSA got the early edge with first-set win on four courts and Pinho dropped the first singles point quickly with a straight-sets victory over Vlad Breazu, 6-3, 6-1. Torres followed on two with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Cierney, while Miguel Alonso clinched the match and won his fifth straight on a 6-2, 6-4 besting of Zian Vanderstappen. Alonso paces the team in singles with an 11-1 record ahead of Torres and Danijal Muminovic, both with eight wins. In doubles action, Ross/Skelly are the pacesetters at 9-3, while Alonso and Alan Magadan are 5-0 since the doubles lineup shift in early March.
On the Slate this Week
For Saturday’s Senior Day, the Roadrunners are running up against a UIW squad that is seeing new program heights in the seventh season under seventh-year head coach Jonas Andersson. UIW comes into the weekend at 18-3 on the year, spinning off wins in the last seven consecutive matches. The Owls’ last loss was March 9 to Kennesaw State (5-2), which UTSA handily defeated (7-0) the prior day. The Owls are 2024 Southland Conference regular season champions.
Coming into the week ranked No. 53 for Sunday’s match, the Owls are 14-7 in the 11th season under two-time conference Coach of the Year Efe Ustundag. Notching four ranked wins this season, the Owls are paced in singles by sophomore Kabeer Kapasi with a 12-3 record this spring and has won seven of the last eight on court six – expected to square-off with Alonso. In addition, junior Emir Sendogan is 11-6 and rookie Petro Kuzmenok is at 10-4. In doubles action, the Owls have tested 13 different combinations – the most success belonging to Gonzaga transfer Arthus de la Bassetiere and Eduardo Morais at 8-4 on court three. Kuzmenok also has paired with 2023 All-CUSA senior Trinity Grear for a 6-2 mark on the second doubles court.
The Series with Rice
Renewing one of UTSA’s longer series, now in the second conference field together, UTSA and Rice will meet for the 30th time in a series that dates to 1983. The Owls hold a 23-6 advantage. However, UTSA has earned wins in two of the last four outings.
Against the Cardinals, the Roadrunners are 9-2 in the overall series and have won each of the last four outings – last renewing the series in the 2021 season.
Up Next
With the regular season in the books, the Roadrunners turn their attention to the program’s inaugural appearance in The American Athletic Conference tournament, scheduled for April 18-21 in Tulsa. Heading to the weekend, UTSA sits at sixth in the latest conference standings.
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