NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's tennis team (3-4, 0-1) faces a two-match home stand, which begins on Tuesday against the UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (7-8). The Privateers will then turn around and face conference foe, Incarnate Word (7-6) on Wednesday with both matches to take place at the University Tennis Center.
The Privateers went through a tough weekend, falling to nationally ranked Rice on Saturday. UNO then lost to perennial conference favorite, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday.
Luis Albuquerque picked up the only point for the Privateers in the loss.
UNO has had to deal with being shorthanded and will face the same fate this week.
Karim Shokeir sustained an injury to his wrist in his singles match against Rice and was unable to play in the loss against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leaving the Privateers with five players.
"We've had a weekend with an unfortunate injury," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "It looks like we're going to be shorthanded again and we have to make the most out of this situation. We'll have a challenge, but I think we'll be fine."
UNO is familiar with UTRGV, which is a combination of Texas-Pan American and Texas-Brownsville. The Privateers went 7-2 against UTPA over their history. The last time the two schools played each other, UNO won a 4-3 decision two seasons ago.
The Vaqueros have played three ranked teams this season, including top ten ranked Texas A&M. UTRGV is 2-5 in road matches this season. Juan Cruz Soria leads the team in dual wins with nine, all coming at the top spot in the rotation. Elliot Johnstone has posted a 7-4 mark between the five and six slot in the rotation.
Incarnate Word has won five of their last six matches entering the week. The stretch was started with a victory over UT-Rio Grande Valley. Sebastian Mortier leads the team in wins with eight. The Cardinals have used six different combinations in doubles during the spring.
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