By Brian Roe, Sports Writer

The men’s tennis squad hit the road one final time this past weekend for the Texas-Arlington Invitational and the Collin County College tournament in Plano.

The Invitational featured four teams that are all ranked in the top 70 in the nation, including UTA, Wichita State and Lamar University.

“UTA and other Division I teams were playing this tournament to get ready for regionals. We have already had our regional tournament, so we were in it to play against some better Division I competition,” head tennis coach Hutton Jones said.

Junior singles player Trent Broach had to step up because of Julian Curatella’s injury.

“Trent stepped it up and had a great win against the No. 1 player from UTA.”

Broach finished the tournament with two wins and two losses, including a loss in three sets to a Wichita State player.

Meanwhile, the Collin County tournament was dominated by Evan Puglia. Puglia, a first-year player for the Wildcats, won the second flight of the tournament this weekend in singles.

“There was some tough competition in the top two flights at the Collin County tournament,” Jones said. “Evan played very well and beat some really tough players.”

The season’s final away tournaments sparked some competition for the Wildcats and helped build some stepping stones for their spring tennis season.

“Overall, the idea is to get as much play in as possible. We want to push our level up a notch in order to prepare for the spring. With Julian being out everyone has been forced to step it up. When Julian comes back in the spring we should be a better team,” Jones said.

The men’s and women’s teams will play host to the final tournament of the fall, the Wal-Mart Open, Oct. 25.