LAFAYETTE, LA – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team defeated the Nicholls State Colonels 5-2 on Saturday at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette's Cajun Courts. 
 
UTRGV (2-9) took a 1-0 lead by clinching two of three doubles matches. The No. 1 duo of juniors Misha Kvantalianiand George Hutchings and the No. 2 duo of seniors Carlo Izurieta and Alberto Mello claimed 6-2 and 6-4 wins, respectively, to give the Vaqueros the edge. 
 
The Vaqueros showed a tenacious will to win on the singles courts. Nicholls (6-6) claimed first-set wins in five of six matches, with only UTRGV senior Alberto Mello taking the early advantage with a 6-1 win at No. 4. 
 
Izurieta, freshman Sam Whitehead, and junior Chris Lawrance all fought back to push their matches to third sets. Whitehead had to fight off a comeback attempt from Nicholls' Antonio Sasso in the second set of their No. 5 bout. After playing to a 6-6 tie, Whitehead clinched the tiebreaker 7-5 to even the match. 
 
Nicholls picked up a point with an Omar Morsy win at No. 1. Mello quickly put UTRGV back on top 2-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in his No. 4 match. The Colonels tied things up again with a win at No. 3. 
 
Izurieta opened up a commanding 5-1 lead in the third set of his No. 2 match en route to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory. Whitehead also dominated his deciding set to clinch a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 win and seal UTRGV's victory at 4-2. Lawrance ended the match on a high note, going game-for-game with Griffin Babineaux at No. 6 to a 6-6 tie in the third, then clinching the tiebreaker 7-5 for a gutsy win. 
 
UTRGV will complete its weather-suspended match at No. 38 Louisiana at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Cajun Courts. 
 
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