LAFAYETTE, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team dropped a tight 4-3 match to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (SM) on Saturday to close out the Louisiana Winter Classic. 
 
Southern Miss (2-2) claimed the doubles point with wins in the second and third flights. But the Vaqueros (3-5) took the 2-1 lead with singles wins by sophomore Sam Whitehead in the No. 4 flight and junior Emilien Burnel in the No. 1 flight. 
 
The Golden Eagles reclaimed a 3-2 lead with wins on the sixth and third courts. But UTRGV didn't go down quietly and senior Chris Lawrance picked up another hard-earned win in the No. 5 flight to tie the match.  
 
Sophomore Karlo Krolo battled in a lengthy No. 2 battle, but Southern Miss' Olimjon Nabiev came away with the 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 win to secure the victory for the Golden Eagles. 
 
UTRGV will be back in action Feb. 12 at Texas Tech at 10 a.m. 
 
Complete Results
Singles (4, 1, 6, 3, 5, 2)  
1. Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) def. Dakotah Bobo (SM) 6-0, 6-4 
2. Olimjon Nabiev (SM) def. Karlo Krolo (UTRGV) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 
3. Alan Sanson (SM) def. Borna Devald (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-0 
4. Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Alexander Gima (SM) 6-2, 6-1 
5. Chris Lawrance (UTRGV) def. Pasawee Reansuwong (SM) 7-6 (3), 7-5 
6. Taras Ignatiuk (SM) def. Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-3
 
Doubles (2, 3) 
1. Emilien Burnel/Karlo Krolo (UTRGV) vs. Dakotah Bobo/Saheb Sodhi (SM) 5-4, inc. 
2. Alan Sanson/Alexander Gima (SM) def. Borna Devald/Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) 6-2 
3. Olimjon Nabiev/Antoine Audrain (SM) def. Agustin Salazar/Chris Lawrance (UTRGV) 6-3 

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