AUSTIN –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team dropped a non-conference match 4-0 to the No. 11 Texas Longhorns on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center.  
 
UTRGV (4-14, 1-3 Western Athletic Conference) faced four of Texas' ranked student-athletes and competed well throughout the match. 
 
The Longhorns (13-8, 1-1 Big 12) used wins in the third and second doubles flights to take a 1-0 lead. Texas won the third, sixth and fifth singles bouts to secure the match victory 4-0, bringing the contest to a close with UTRGV leading in the second sets of three matches. 
 
Junior Misha Kvantaliani gave #66 Eliot Spizzirri all he could handle in the No. 1 singles match. Kvantaliani pushed the first set to 6-6, forcing a tiebreaker which was played just as close. Spizzirri held on to take the tightly contested frame 7-6 (7-5). Kvantaliani was leading the second set 1-0 when the match was called. 
 
Senior Carlo Izurieta fought hard in the No. 2 match against Texas' highest ranked player in action, #47 Richard Ciamarra. After dropping the first set 3-6, Izurieta was leading the second 3-1 when it went unfinished. 
 
Senior Alberto Mello held a 3-2 lead in the second set of his No. 4 match against #124 Chih Chi Huang. He rebounded and battled well in the frame after dropping the first 0-6. 
 
Izurieta and Mello also battled well in doubles in the No. 1 flight, trailing 4-5 when Texas clinched the doubles point and left the match unfinished. 
 
UTRGV returns to WAC play April 8-9 for a pair of matches in Abilene against Seattle U and Grand Canyon. 

Support UTRGV Men's Tennis | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube