LAS CRUCES, NM –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team was defeated 5-1 by the New Mexico State Aggies (NMSU) on Friday at the NM State Tennis Center in its first Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match of the season. 
 
UTRGV (3-11, 0-1 WAC) fell behind 0-1 as NMSU (6-12, 1-0 WAC) picked up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The top Vaqueros duo of junior Misha Kvantaliani and senior Carlo Izurieta was tied 4-4 in its No. 1 match, but the contest went unfinished once NMSU clinched the point. 
 
The Aggies opened up a 3-0 lead with quick wins in the third and sixth singles flights. 
 
Izurieta got a point back for UTRGV, making it 3-1, with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 2. Kvantaliani and freshman Sam Whitehead rallied from first set losses to force third sets in their No. 1 and No. 5 matches, but NMSU won both flights to secure the team victory.  
 
Senior Alberto Mello battled in his No. 4 match, taking NMSU's Itay Feigin to a tiebreaker in the first set. Feigin pulled away for a slim 7-5 win to take the first 7-6 and was leading the second 3-1 when the match went unfinished once the victory was secured. 
 
The Vaqueros are back in action Saturday at 9 a.m. against Chicago State at the NM State Tennis Center. 
 
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