SEATTLE, Wash. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team is back on the road to make one final push in its last two Western Athletic Conference (WAC) matches of the regular season. 
 
The Vaqueros (6-15, 1-2 WAC) will be taking on Seattle U (5-8, 1-2) Friday at 12 p.m. (CT) at the Amy Yee Tennis Courts if the match is played indoors or at the Nordstrom Tennis Center if it's played outdoors. Then, they'll travel to Phoenix to face the Grand Canyon (GCU) Lopes (5-11, 1-2) Sunday at 12 p.m. at the GCU Tennis Facility. 
 
Both matches will have big implications on conference tournament seeding with all three teams heading into the final weekend with identical WAC records, one game above New Mexico State, which sits at 1-3, and behind 3-0 UT Arlington and 3-1 Abilene Christian. 
 
"Everything has been tight in this conference. If you look through every team's results, there's no team that's just hammering everybody else," UTRGV head coach Nathan Robinson said. "We're going to play in basically two completely different environments in three days. We'll be playing cool indoors or cool outdoors at Seattle U, then head to GCU and play in 90 degree, five percent humidity weather. It's going to be about us adapting and showing up in the right mentality ready to work. If we focus and take care of business, we'll be in a good place to take every match that we play. The guys are in a good spot and we're confident." 
 
UTRGV is 7-2 against Seattle U and earned a gritty 4-3 win over the Redhawks last season to bounce them from the conference tournament. The Vaqueros have one win in eight tries against GCU, with that win coming back in 2015. GCU defeated UTRGV in two close 4-3, 4-2 matches last season. 
 
The Vaqueros are heading into their last conference matches with confidence and determination. They focused on individualized training in practice throughout the week to fine-tune things. Robinson feels the student-athletes are rounding into form at a good time, praising the recent play of sophomores Borna Devald and Sam Whitehead and freshman McAllen Memorial alum Agustin Salazar. 
 
UTRGV switched up the doubles combinations during last weekend's matches and saw good results, giving the team a new burst of momentum. Junior Emilien Burnel, who has been holding down the top spot in the UTRGV lineup, said the team is ready to give their all and try to move up the conference standings this weekend. 
 
"Everyone is excited for these conference matches. We're going to give it our best," Burnel said. "The energy is going to be really important and everyone needs to step on the court and show that they're ready to win and don't give a single point." 

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