SANTA CLARA, Calif.- Fresh off of the upset over then-No. 44 TCU, the No. 49 Santa Clara University men's tennis team continues its early-season road swing with a pair of matches in Las Vegas, Nev. The Broncos will play Sat., Feb. 18 vs. Utah and then on Sun., Feb. 19 the Broncos play at No. 57 UNLV.

Tale of the Tape
Sat., Feb. 18 11 a.m.
No. 49 Santa Clara vs. Utah • Frank & Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Sun., Feb. 19 11 a.m.
No. 49 Santa Clara @ No. 57 UNLV• Fertitta Tennis Complex (Las Vegas, Nev.)

The Broncos
Santa Clara (5-2) continues to win matches against top-tier opponents. The Broncos have battled against some of the NCAA's best programs; after this weekend the Broncos will have played six of their nine matches against ranked squads.

Junior Tom Pham currently boasts a seven-match winning streak, having yet to drop a match this spring. His overall record (8-1) has just one blunder back in Oct. at the ITA Regionals.  Pham's one loss this year was to Cal's Carlos Cueto, who finished last season ranked No. 55 nationally in singles.

Senior Nicolas Vinel is keeping pace with Pham in overall wins. Since the opening of fall play, Vinel has amassed eight wins as well, including two wins in Texas last weekend.

John Lamble is just one win behind Pham and Vinel with seven overall.

Eugene Muchynski, who has three-straight victories, was the hero at TCU. Playing in the No. 6 singles spot, Muchynski's match was to finish in the bout with TCU. With both schools having earned three victories, Muchynski came through with a clutch victory over TCU's Will Stein to complete the upset win.

ITA Rankings
This week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings come out Thurs., Feb. 16. Keep track of where the Broncos move in the rankings by clicking here.

Utah
The Utes (4-0) have a mid-week matchup with in-state rival BYU before heading to Las Vegas to face UNLV and Santa Clara. Entering the week, Utah has yet to leave its home court. They defeated Weber State, Montana State, Montana and Idaho State at home this year. Dymtro Mamedov leads the Utes with a 9-4 overall record primarily in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions. In doubles, Ace Matias and Alejandro Medinilla lead Utah with a 4-3 record. The No. 4 spot in singles has proven to be a strong point for the Utes as the team has combined for a perfect start 4-0 record overall.

UNLV

UNLV (3-4) has played a tough spring schedule to this point. The Rebels opened up the year with a loss to No. 1 USC before winning three straight. The No. 57 Rebels have already defeated two West Coast Conference teams this year, LMU and USF.

All-Time Highs
Santa Clara has already been setting all-time marks this season. The Broncos began the season at a school-best No. 50 in the ITA rankings, the highest ever to begin the season … the doubles tandem of Vinel/Dandan opened the fall with the best-ever doubles ranking in school history as the nation's No. 37 tandem.  

Global Perspectives
The Bronco tennis program has players and coaches from seven countries, including players from five countries and two international coaches. The SCU team boasts players from five different countries including the U.S., France, Japan, Russia and the Philippines.  The coaching staff is also a mix of internationals including first-year assistant coach, Jose Hilla who is from Oviedo, Spain and third-year assistant Jakub Cech is from Prague, Czech Republic.

Keep Up with SCU Tennis On Facebook
Stay up to date with all the latest news from the men's tennis program on their Facebook page.

Be sure to check back to SantaClaraBroncos.com this weekend for a recap from Las Vegas, Nev.