For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 16, 2002
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

UTPA TENNIS TEAM SET FOR OPENER

EDINBURG, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American's women's tennis team will begin their season this weekend, while the men's team will wait another week to get into action.

The Lady Broncs will open their season when they play Southern Methodist Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at the H.E.B. Tennis Center in Corpus Christi. The Broncs will not travel to Rice for the Rice Invitational this weekend. They will open their season next weekend.

Texas-Pan American will face a tough test in the 65th-ranked SMU women. "Last year, SMU was among the top 40 teams in the nation," said UTPA Head Coach Todd Chapman. "It will be a tough first match, but I'd rather play somebody tough early, because it gives you a better gauge of where your team is, rather than playing an easy first match, where you get a win but don't find out anything about yourself. SMU is a good team. We'll go out and play hard, and, win or lose, we'll learn something about our team, and about where we need to go."

Two Lady Broncs will be out of the lineup Friday. Junior Julie Fife (Los Alamos, NM/Los Alamos HS) is out for a few weeks due to a knee injury, while junior Jessica Brown (Sioux City, IA/North HS) will not be able to make the trip due to a schedule conflict.

UT Pan American's tentative lineup will have senior Elisabet Mateos (Barcelona, Spain/Arnau Cadell HS/Laredo CC) at number one singles, sophomore Kathryn Waslen (Calgary, AB/West Island College) at number two, freshman Laura Boskovich (San Jose, CA/St. Francis HS) at number three, sophomore Ana Pena (McAllen, TX/Nikki Rowe HS) at number four, freshman Elysia Sloan (Duncanville, TX/Duncanville HS) at number five, and junior Alana Breen (Whistler, BC/Whistler Secondary) at number six. Mateos and Pena will play first doubles, Boskovich and Waslen number two, and Sloan and Breen number three.

The Lady Broncs will return to action next weekend when they visit Lamar and Houston and play Alcorn State, while the Broncs open next weekend when they travel to Texas A&M to meet both the Aggies and Trinity.

Texas-Pan American's home opener has been rescheduled. The matches against St. Mary's, scheduled for February 1, have been rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon, February 12th at 2:00 p.m. at the Cox Tennis Center.

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