ARLINGTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team will be the #5 seed at the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament this week and they're eager to get a chance to upset some conference opponents. 
 
The first rematch for UTRGV (6-18, 1-4 WAC) will be against the #4 Seattle U Redhawks (6-9, 2-3 WAC) at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Arlington Tennis Center. If the Vaqueros advance, they'll take on #1 UT Arlington in the semifinals at 12 p.m. Friday. The men's championship match is set for 12 p.m. Saturday. 
 
Seattle U won the regular season matchup between the programs 5-2 on their home courts. UTRGV is aiming to flip some singles matches and perform better on the doubles courts with a healthy roster to swing the matchup in their direction and reach the second round of the tournament. 
 
"The first match was tight. We'd like to get the doubles point this time around. We'll be full-strength in our doubles lineup, which we weren't last time, so we feel good about it," head coach Nathan Robinson said. "We just want to bring good competition to them. They're a good, improved team from last year and we want to make sure this time around we flip a couple matches that we should've had." 
 
Junior Emilien Burnel has been leading the Vaqueros in competition, making an incredible impact in his first season since transferring into the program. He has accumulated 26 total wins this spring, going 12-12 in singles and 14-5 in doubles, including an impressive 11-4 mark with sophomore Borna Devald in the No. 1 doubles flight. Devald and fellow Croatian sophomore Karlo Krolo have been steady in the second and third singles flights. 
 
UTRGV has seen flashes of brilliance from senior Chris Lawrance, sophomore Sam Whitehead and freshman McAllen Memorial alum Agustin Salazar in the bottom half of the lineup, and the consistency in play has improved as the season goes on throughout the lineup. 
 
Despite a tough stretch to close the season, Robinson knows his team is capable of big things, and if they go in focused and confident, they'll show everyone else, too. 
 
"The biggest message heading to the tournament is to believe in ourselves right now," Robinson said. "Everything has been tight in this conference. We know we just need to flip a couple singles matches in each match we play and we could be looking at ourselves in the final. Just take it one match at a time and if we stay focused, good things can follow." 

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