EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's tennis team wraps up their weekend as they face the Kansas City Kangaroos on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
Admission is free and the public is welcomed to attend. It is the third day of hosting conference matches at the Orville Cox Tennis Center as five of the six conference teams are in attendance. The schedule for Sunday is as follows:
Sunday
Grand Canyon vs. New Mexico State - 9:00 a.m.
UTPA vs. Kansas City - 1:30 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Broncs battled with the New Mexico State University Aggies but fell 3-4 on Saturday.
 
The Broncs (5-10) got things started as they swept through doubles. The team of Juan Cruz Soria and Koby Jansen beat Paul Denele and Thomas Douglas 8-3 on court one. Miguel Alvarez-Hevia and Elliot Johnstone clinched the doubles point for the Broncs with an 8-4 win over Germain Degardin and Charles Baron on court three. Ethan Ammon and Hector Ramirez completed the sweep with an 8-5 victory over Christofer Gonclaves and Patrick Pfister on court two.
 
The Aggies (6-11) opened with wins on courts six, five and four to open singles competition but the Broncs got a point back as Soria defeated Strahinja Treckov 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. The Aggies clinched the match with a won at No. 2 singles but it was Jansen who closed out the scoring with a win over Gonclaves at No. 3 singles. Jansen opened his match with a 6-2 win in the first set but fell in the second 6-7. Jansen bounced back with a 6-1 win in the third to close out the scoring.
 
Not One, Not Two But Three Athletes of the Week
Hector Ramirez became the third Bronc to be named WAC Athlete of the Week this season after his performance last weekend.
 
Ramirez went 3-1 in singles last week, while playing all of his matches at the No. 2 position. Ramirez recorded a 6-0, 6-2 victory over No. 63 UT Arlington's Stefan Williams and then followed that with a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 10-7 victory over No. 8 Texas' Nick Naumann. He closed out his weekend with a 6-0, 6-3 win over St. Edwards' Ricardo Pineda for his third straight victory.
 
Koby Jansen earned the honor on February 24 and then Juan Cruz Soria was named athlete of the week on March 3.
 
Scouting the Kangaroos
The Kangaroos are 8-9 on the season as they head into their match against the Broncs. They are coming off of a loss to the New Mexico State Aggies on Friday.
 
Conner Edwards leads the Kangaroos with 11 singles victories this season. He is 1-1 at No. 4, 3-3 at No. 5 and 7-1 at No. 6 singles. Mike Psarros has posted a 10-7 record so far this season and has played in multiple singles spots while picking up four wins at No. 5.
 
In doubles, Uldis Gaismins and Andrey Smirnov have posted nine wins while playing all of their matches at No. 2. Psarros and Airam Castellano have posted eight doubles victories playing at No. 1 while Edwards and Amaury Navette have also posted eight doubles victories while playing at No. 3.
 
The Series
The Broncs are 1-0 all-time against Kansas City after playing them for the first time last season. The Broncs beat the Kangaroos 4-0 last season at the Orville Cox Tennis Center on March 2.
 
Globetrotters
The Broncs have seven student-athletes representing six countries including, Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Mexico, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago.
 
Next Up
The Broncs are back in action on Thursday, April 2, when they host Laredo Community College at 2 p.m. at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.   

Support UTPA Tennis | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow the Broncs on Twitter | Follow the Broncs on Instagram | Follow the Broncs on YouTube