BEAUMONT –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team was defeated 6-1 in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match by the Lamar Cardinals on Friday at the Thompson Family Tennis Center. 
 
Lamar (11-6, 3-0 WAC) took the 1-0 lead with doubles wins in the third and second flights. UTRGV (4-12, 1-2 WAC) No. 1 duo of juniors Misha Kvantaliani and George Hutchings was locked in a back-and-forth battle that needed to be decided in a tiebreaker. Lamar's duo of Daniel Sancho Arbizu/Juan Jose Rodriguez Garceran took the win 7-6 (7-4). 
 
The Cardinals extended their lead to 3-0 with straight set wins in the fourth and first singles flights. 
 
Freshman Sam Whitehead continued to roll and earned another three-set victory, making it 3-1. After dropping the first set of his No. 5 match 2-6, Whitehead bounced back in dominant fashion to secure his win 6-0, 6-2. 
 
Senior Carlo Izurieta, Hutchings and junior Chris Lawrance all went to three sets in the second, third and sixth flights, needing wins in all three to steal the team victory. Lamar's Max Amling walked away with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 to secure the match at 4-1 for the Cardinals. 
 
Lawrance and Izurieta each came back from 3-6 first set losses and battled well in their respective matches. Lawrance forced an extra game in the third frame of his No. 6 match, but Lamar's Brandon Do took the 7-5 win.  
 
UTRGV faces Abilene Christian on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.  
 
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