LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The third-seeded University of Texas Rio Grande Valley men's tennis team fell 2-4 to second-seeded University of Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the New Mexico State Tennis Center.
 
UTRGV (5-21) fell behind early in the match as they dropped the doubles point to UMKC (13-8), who got wins on courts one and three. UTRGV's duo of junior Koby Jansen and freshman Clément Sarradin were up 4-3 in their match against Amaury Navette and Uldis Gaismins on court two before it went unfinished.
 
In singles, UMKC got two more points with wins on courts three and five but UTRGV answered with a pair of victories of their own. Sophomore Yehonatan Kaufman got UTRGV on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win on court two and then Jansen followed with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Airam Castellano on court one.
 
On court six, Mateo Schmit dropped his first set 2-6 to Vinh Pham before answering back with a 6-3 win in the second. Pham came away with the 6-1 win in the final set to clinch the match for UMKC.
 
Sarradin had his match unfinished as he split the first two sets with Navette on court four.
 
 
Singles (3,5,2,1,6)
1. Koby Jansen (UTRGV) def. Airam Castellano (UMKC) 6-4, 6-4
2. Yehonatan Kaufman (UTRGV) def. Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) 7-5, 6-4
3. Tom Kruse (UMKC) def. Elliot Johnstone (UTRGV) 6-1, 6-1
4. Clément Sarradin (UTRGV) vs. Amaury Navette (UMKC) 6-4, 6-7 (4), unfinished
5. Mike Psarros (UMKC) def. Andres Hernandez (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-3
6. Vinh Pham (UMKC) def. Mateo Schmit (UTRGV) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
 
Doubles (1,3)
1. Airam Castalano/Mike Psarros(UMKC) def. Yehonatan Kaufman/Elliot Johnstone (UTRGV) 6-3
2. Koby Jansen/Clément Sarradin  (UTRGV) vs. Amaury Navette/Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) 4-3 unfinished
3. Vinh Pham/Tom Kruse (UMKC) def. Andres Hernandez/Mateo Schmit (UTRGV) 6-1

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