KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's tennis team wrapped up their regular season with a 2-5 loss to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos on Saturday at the Plaza Tennis Center.
 
The Vaqueros (11-13, 2-3 WAC) fell behind early as the Kangaroos (12-7, 3-1 WAC) swept through doubles.
 
UMKC then opened singles with three straight wins on courts three, two and six to clinch the match but sophomore Elliot Johnstone didn't throw the towel in as he faced Mike Psarros. Johnstone fell 6-7 in the first set but answered back with a 6-1 in the second to force a tiebreaker. Johnstone dominated the tiebreaker taking it 10-2 to win his match.
 
After the Kangaroos won on court one, it was freshman Yehonatan Kaufman who put up the second point for the Vaqueros with a win over Vinh Pahm. Kaufman opened with a 7-6 win in the first set before dropping the second set 6-7. In the tiebreaker, Kaufman and Pham went back and forth before Kaufman pulled out the 11-9 win.
 
The Vaqueros will have some time off as they prepare for the Western Athletic Conference Championships on April 29-May 1 at the Brownsville Tennis Center.
 
Complete Results:
Singles (3,2,6,4,1,5)
1. Airam Castellano (UMKC) def. Juan Cruz Soria (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-0
2. Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) def. Ethan Ammon (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-1
3. Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) def. Koby Jansen (UTRGV) 6-3, 6-0
4. Elliot Johnstone (UTRGV) def. Mike Psarros (UMKC) 6-7 (5), 6-1, 10-2
5. Yehonatan Kaufman (UTRGV) def. Vinh Pham (UMKC) 7-6 (9), 6-7 (8), 11-9
6. Amaury Navette (UMKC) def. Cosme Jubera (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles (3,2,1)
1. Airam Castellano/Mike Psarros (UMKC) def. Juan Cruz Soria/Koby Jansen (UTRGV) 7-6 (5)
2. Uldis Gaismins/Amaury Navette (UMKC) def. Elliot Johnstone/Andres Hernandez (UTRGV) 6-3  
3. Vinh Pham/Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) def. Yehonatan Kaufman/Ethan Ammon (UTRGV) 7-5

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