ODESSA, Texas (May 6, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin men's tennis team will continue its season this week after earning an at-large bid into the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Tournament. The fourth-seeded Falcons will travel to Lubbock Christian University for their third matchup this season against the top-seeded Chaparrals, where they will compete in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament at 12 p.m. on Friday, May 9, from the Penny Gullo Tennis Center in Lubbock, Texas.

The NCAA DII Men's and Women's Tennis Committee has selected the 48 teams that will be participating in the 2025 NCAA DII men's tennis championship. Preliminary rounds will be played May 9-10 at sixteen regional sites. The winning team from each site will advance to the finals, May 20-24, in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

FALCONS UNDER THE LENS
The Falcons will enter this year's NCAA Tournament as the 46th-ranked team in NCAA Division II. The Falcons are 11-7 overall and 7-6 against NCAA Division II opponents, and advance to the NCAA Regional Round for the second year in a row after taking down Midwestern State University 4-3 in the regional last year.

UTPB is led this year by the 25th nationally-ranked singles player in NCAA Division II, Jonathan Vega. Vega earned First-Team All-LSC recognition in both singles and doubles, was named the Co-Sportsmanship Player of the Year, and earned a spot on the LSC All-Tournament Team. Vega is 12-5 at No. 1 singles this season, including five wins over ranked opponents. In doubles, Vega and Jonas Krahofer are a combined 12-3, including a record of 11-3 at No. 1 doubles. This Spring, Krahofer and Vega have been ranked as high as No. 18 in the nation in doubles, and are currently ranked at No. 30.

Other players to watch for the Falcons in singles include Grzegorz Rudnicki (9-6; Nos. 2-3), most likely at No. 3 singles; Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez (12-4; Nos. 3-4), most likely at No. 4 singles, Krahofer (12-5; Nos. 3-4-5), most likely at No. 5 singles; and Lucas Nitzschke (10-5; Nos. 5-6), most likely at No. 6 singles. In doubles, Rudnicki and Florian Kralik are 8-4 overall (7-3 at No. 2 doubles) while Gonzalez Ibanez and Nitzschke are 10-3 overall (9-3 at No. 3 doubles), but the last two matches have seen Nitzschke and Kralik playing at No. 2 doubles and Gonzalez Ibanez and Rudnicki playing at No. 3 doubles.

BRIEF LOOK AT THE CHAPARRALS
It will be a conference semifinal rematch between UTPB and Lubbock Christian (22-2 overall). LCU is ranked No. 5 in the nation and in just its third year since the program's NCAA Division II rebirth, made history by outlasting No. 24 Midwestern State 4-3 in the Lone Star Conference Championship match, capturing the program's first LSC tournament title, and punching its ticket to a third straight NCAA Division II South Central Regional berth. No. 13 nationally-ranked Pablo Segura claimed LSC Tournament MVP honors while Andres De Los Rios earned the clinching win against the Mustangs with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles.

Lubbock Christian University men's tennis received widespread recognition at the Lone Star Conference Championships banquet as redshirt sophomore standout Kelly Giese was named the 2025 LSC Men's Tennis Player of the Year. LCU claimed a league-best five all-conference singles honors, three doubles honors, and two academic accolades. Giese has surged to No. 9 in the latest ITA national singles rankings and also earned first-team all-conference honors in both singles (No. 1 line) and doubles (with freshman Jordan Georgiev), and was named to the LSC Sportsmanship Team. In doubles, the Giese-Georgiev duo is ranked No. 35 nationally. Georgiev joined Giese on the first-team all-conference doubles list and also earned an ITA No. 70 national singles ranking. Junior Andres De Los Rios was honored as LSC Co-Newcomer of the Year and was a second-team all-conference pick in both singles (No. 4 line) and doubles. Sophomore Pablo Segura was named first-team all-conference in singles (No. 2 line), second-team all-conference in doubles, and earned a spot on the LSC All-Academic Team. Senior Blas Ruiz Romero also earned second-team all-conference honors in singles at the No. 6 line. Junior Mattia Ghedin added to the Chaps' academic haul, being named LSC Men's Tennis Academic Player of the Year and an All-Academic Team honoree.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS THIS SEASON BETWEEN THE FALCONS AND CHAPARRALS
In their meeting in the LSC semifinals last weekend, the Falcons had a 2-1 lead before an eight-hour weather delay, and ended up falling 4-2 against the Chaps. UTPB lost the first two doubles matches to fall behind 1-0, but then won the first two singles matches to go up 2-1. Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez defeated Andres De Los Rios 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4 singles and Grzegorz Rudnicki defeated No. 62 nationally-ranked Mattia Ghedin for the second time this season, this time by a score of 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3 singles. However, with UTPB just two points away from victory at the time of the weather delay, the Falcons were unable to take advantage after Jonathan Vega led 5-4 in the second set at No. 1 singles, Lucas Nakasato was tied 3-3 in the third set at No. 2 singles, and Jonas Krahofer was tied 3-3 in his third set at No. 5 singles. The semifinal contest between UTPB and LCU ended 12 hours after its original start time.

During the regular season, UTPB lost 6-1 at LCU in Lubbock, Texas. In their first matchup this season, UTPB lost a third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles, lost a three-set match at No. 6 singles, and lost two tiebreaks at No. 4 singles. Then in their matchup last weekend, UTPB lost a tiebreak in the second set at No. 1 singles, lost three-set matches at both No. 2 and No. 5 singles, and saw the match at No. 6 singles go into the third set as well, meaning potential swing matches are there for the taking. Vega and Krahofer (No. 30 nationally-ranked) have been defeated twice this season by Kelly Giese and Jordan Georgiev (No. 35 nationally-ranked) at No. 1 doubles, and will need to play a key role in both doubles and singles if the Falcons want to reverse their fortunes this time around against the Chaps. Playing against Giese (No. 9 nationally-ranked) twice this season at No. 1 singles, Vega (No. 25 nationally-ranked) fell in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), in their first meeting and lot 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in their most recent matchup.

WORDS FROM HEAD COACH CHRIS TOLSON
"I am excited for our guys to get this opportunity. It was not an easy task or path to get to this point. It's been a year of adversity for these guys, but this team never lost confidence in themselves or gave in and quit. It's exciting to be at that point in the season where it's win or go home. This will be our third time playing a fantastic LCU team. Last time we were close to breaking through, but came up a bit short. I believe with a few adjustments in practice this week and with the experience these guys have, our best tennis is still to come."

WINNER GOES TO FLORIDA
Following the conclusion of region play, 16 teams will advance to the play at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Single elimination competition begins on May 20 and continues through the national championship on May 24.