COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis team is set for a trio of road matches this weekend starting on Saturday at 9 a.m. as it faces No. 9 Texas A&M University at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
 
UTRGV will also face Prairie View A&M on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Prairie View and then will close out the weekend at Rice on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
Splitting Opening Weekend

• UTRGV went 1-1 in its opening weekend at LSU's Donni Leaycraft Scramble.
• UTRGV dropped its first match of the weekend 0-4 to UAB.
• Defeated Alabama State 4-1 for first victory of the season.
• Played the match vs. UAB indoors and without doubles.
• Match vs. Alabama State moved back outdoors.

All-Time Series

• UTRGV is 17-20 all-time against Texas A&M in a series that dates back to 1960.
• UTRGV and Texas A&M last faced off on Feb. 12, 2017 with Texas A&M winning 6-0.
• Last time UTRGV defeated Texas A&M was during the 1983 season
• UTRGV is 17-0 all-time against Prairie View A&M in a series that dates back to 1986
• UTRGV won both matches last season 5-1 (1/28/18) and 4-0 (3/24/18).
• UTRGV is 18-26 all-time against Rice in a series that dates back to 1960.
• UTRGV defeated Rice 4-3 (1/14/18) for the first time since 1979.

Scouting Texas A&M

• Enters the weekend at the ninth ranked team in the ITA Rankings.
• Texas A&M is 1-0 after defeating Abilene Christian 7-0 in the first match of the season.
• Nine of 11 student-athletes are underclassmen with one senior in Kevin Lam and one junior in Valentin Vacherot.
• Four of the 11 on the roster return from last season.
• Carlos Aguilar posted a record of 22-5 in dual match play with Vacherot posting a 20-8 record, Barnaby Smith posting a 13-8, and Lam posting a 2-0 record.

Scouting Prairie View A&M

• Prairie View is 0-6 on the season.
• Have played SMU (twice), Baylor, Rice, Incarnate Word, and UTSA.
• Returns five from last year's squad in Xavier Lawrence, Taqel Lewis, Zachary Suico, Kevin Ugarteche, and Rodrigo Yoshikata.
• The only newcomer on Prairie View A&M is Jorge Juarez Caballero. 

Scouting Rice

• Rice is 2-0 heading into a weekend with three matches on slate.
• Rice faces UT Arlington on Friday before facing UTRGV on Sunday and Western Michigan on Monday.
• Rice won its two matches on its first weekend of the season with 7-0 wins over Incarnate Word and Prairie View A&M.
• Rice brings back six from last season's squad with two upperclassmen in junior Eric Rutledge and senior Daniel Warren. 

Feeling out the Doubles Teams

• UTRGV didn't get to play doubles in the its match against UAB but won the doubles points in its match against Alabama State.
• Yehonatan Kaufman and Samuel de Felipe Garcia teamed up to get the victory at No. 1 doubles.
• Mateo Schmit and Clément Sarradin won at No. 2 doubles
• Some of the freshmen didn't make the trip on opening weekend and will be in the mix for this weekend's matches.

 
"We still are tweaking the doubles teams," UTRGV head coach Dann Nelson said. "In the matches last weekend we had three freshmen who didn't make the trip so now those guys are good to go. We are going to tweak some things and try to put the three best doubles teams we can put them out there."
 
Loyd Showing Improvement in Sophomore Campaign

• Michael Loyd didn't compete in any singles matches last spring but got the starts at the No. 6 spot in the first two matches of the season.
• Loyd dropped his first match against UAB's Giovani Pasini 6-0, 6-4.
• Was leading 6-2, 5-5 against Alabama State's Alejo Calvis before it went unfinished with the overall match stopping once UTRGV clinched the win.
• Loyd returned from the summer in great shape and carried that through the fall and winter, which has built his confidence.

 
"He's building points better and his confidence is even better now," Nelson said. "In that match, you can tell he hadn't played a lot of singles because he lost the first set six to zero but he fought so hard in the second set. He fought back from a couple of breaks down. He fought hard to get back into the match. You can tell that his confidence is up there."
 
Letting Loose Before the Trip

• Coach Nelson decided to give the squad a free day at practice where they could wear whatever they wanted.
• Some wore different UTRGV gear. Some wore their favorite soccer team's jersey. Others tried looking like twins.
• Coach Nelson trying to remind the squad to have a little bit of fun out there.
• All the different combinations speaks of all the different types of personalities are on the squad.

 
"When I tell them they can wear whatever they wanted for practice I am thinking they aren't going to wear their normal stuff so they don't have to wash it or are putting in a bag getting ready for the trip," Nelson said. "I thought they would wear another short or whatever but they came out in tights and floppy hats. There was a guy with a lab coat and some lab goggles. We are loose. I'll tell you that. That's why I love coming to practice every day. These guys are really fun to be around and I enjoy it every day." 
 
Upcoming Schedule

• Feb. 3 @ No. 11 Baylor – 2:30 p.m.
• Feb. 4 @ Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 2 p.m.
• Feb. 15 @ Lamar – 2 p.m.
• Feb. 16 vs. Southern Miss – 10 a.m.
• Feb. 22 @ H-E-B Tournament of Champions

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