June 6, 2008

For the first time in UTPA women's tennis history, the Lady Broncs earned a spot on the 2008 Women's Division I Final Regional Rankings while the men's tennis team ranked 12th overall in the South Central Region for the fifth time in seven seasons.

"The first time regional ranking for our women's tennis program is just the icing on the cake for what was an incredible season for our team," said head men's and women's tennis coach Rob Hubbard. "All kinds of records, both team and individual, were established this season and to culminate it with our first-ever Southwest Regional ranking is a sweet feeling.

The Lady Broncs finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 17-8 overall record, the program's all-time single season record. The 17-8 overall record gave the program their highest winning percentage for a season of .720.

"This ranking comes on the heels of our toughest schedule in the history of the program and is just another indication that we have arrived on the national scene. I am so proud of our women's tennis team," added Hubbard.

With the 17-8 overall record, Hubbard was named the 2007-08 All-Independent Coach of the Year and five Lady Broncs earned All-Independent post-season accolades.

The Lady Broncs rank 15th in the Southwest Region among top universities that include Baylor, University of Texas, Texas Christian University, Louisiana State University, Texas A&M, Rice, Texas Tech, SMU, Univ. of Louisiana-Lafayette, Southeastern Louisiana, University of Houston, Lamar, University of North Texas, and Northwestern State.

The men's tennis team jumped two spots from the previous season in the Men's South Central Region Rankings into the 12th spot ahead of Lamar University and Prairie View A&M.

"The men were up against a lot of stiff competition this season and were very deserving of this regional ranking. The strength of our schedule, youth, and results gave us recognition that we are a team to be reckoned with in the future. The men did a great job this year and I look forward in them improving on these results for the upcoming season, said Hubbard."

The Broncs finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 7-12 overall record and newcomers Ashwin Vijayaragavan (Andhrapradesh, India/Kenedy Vidya Bhavan HS) and Marcus Dornauf (East Launceston, Tasmania, Aus/Scotch Oakburn College Prep) collected All-Southland Conference Second Team laurels in their first season.

The Broncs are joined in the region rankings by Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Rice, Texas A&M, TCU, SMU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT-San Antonio, UT-Arlington, Southeast Louisiana, Lamar, and Prairie View A&M.

Division I Regional rankings are released twice a year (fall and year-end). The top-15 teams, top-30 singles players and top-15 doubles teams are ranked for men's and women's tennis in each of the eight ITA regions.

UTPA Sports Information