The men’s tennis team recently endured its first test of the season while paying three matches in three days on the road. The Broncs did exactly what they were expected to do on the trip, win all three.
The Broncs opened the season against Prairie View A&M University Feb. 9, sweeping the Panthers 7-0. Top player Beau Bernstein and doubles partner Chetan Panditi knocked off Ronald Chidzikwe and Karim Fotso 8-0 to open the action while Bernstein went on to win his singles match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, Panditi winning, 6-3, 6-3.
Goode and company continued on Friday at Prairie View with a match against Bethany College which is ranked No. 16 in NAIA. The Broncs beat the Swedes 5-2 and were paced by Bernstein who was matched up against Marcelo Alecio, ranked No. 45 in the nation in NAIA. Bernstein took the match 6-3, 6-2. Sophomore Ricardo Hopker beat Alex Sandri by 6-2, 6-2, while Panditi knocked off James Bragg, 6-3, 6-3.
“In each match we came out better and better,” Goode said of his team’s weekend performance. “I think our last match was our best. Despite the little fatigue that we felt, we came out really well.”
The Broncs completed their three-day trip in San Antonio by visiting St. Mary’s University Saturday. UTPA knocked off the Rattlers 6-1 and completed a successful road trip that saw its top player, Bernstein, win six matches in a row over three contests. Against the Rattlers he beat out his opponent 7-5, 7-6, coming back from a 5-2 deficit.
Goode was impressed with his team and how it performed, but is ready to get back to work and is going to enjoy the couple of weeks between matches.
“We like when we have a week to work between matches,” he said. “It gives us time to correct mistakes that we saw. It’s tough to adjust when we have matches every week, but we feel we have an advantage when we have at least a week to prepare for teams.”
Bernstein was named the Southland Conference Player of the Week for his performance this past weekend. The Broncs’ next match is a Southland Conference contest against UTSA on March 2 in San Antonio.