ARLINGTON – Five years to the day after their last conference tournament victory, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team punched its ticket to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament semifinals as junior Emilien Burnel clinched a 4-2 victory over the #4 Seattle U Redhawks Thursday at the Arlington Tennis Center. 
 
#5 UTRGV (7-18) will face #1 UT Arlington at 12 p.m. Friday for a chance to advance to the championship match. 
 
Seattle U took the 1-0 lead after a fight in the doubles session. UTRGV's All-WAC doubles team of Burnel and sophomore Borna Devald rolled to a 6-3 win in the No. 1 flight, but the Redhawks came back to clinch the doubles point with wins on the second and third courts. 
 
Yu-Han Hsieh/Filip Stipic won 6-4 at No. 3, then Michael Frank/Julian Worn won 7-6 (8:6) in the second match. The Vaqueros showed great resilience in both matches, as the No. 3 duo of senior Chris Lawrance and sophomore Sam Whitehead fought back from down 2-5 to make it 4-5 before dropping the match. The No. 2 duo of sophomore Karlo Krolo and senior Te Kani Williams were locked in an exciting battle that they slimly dropped. 
 
UTRGV won the first set on five of six singles courts to create a strong wave of momentum. The Vaqueros got on the board with a stellar match by freshman McAllen Memorial alum Agustin Salazar at No. 4 as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win. Whitehead gave the Vaqueros a 2-1 lead with a swift 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 5. 
 
The Redhawks tied the match with a straight-set win on the sixth court, but soon after, Krolo gave the edge back to the Vaqueros with a solid 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3. 
 
Burnel and Devald both went to third sets in their No. 1 and No. 2 matches, respectively, and were giving it their all to push UTRGV to the next round. Burnel was dynamic in the third set on the first court, showing his athleticism to cover the court extremely well. He dominated when the Vaqueros needed him most, clinching the match with a well-earned 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 victory. 
 
Devald looked solid in his match, winning the first 7-5 before dropping the second 2-6. He was tied at 3-3 in the third but it went unfinished with the team victory secured. 
 
Complete Results
Singles (4, 5, 6, 3, 1) 
1. Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) def. Clement Hamel (SU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 
2. Borna Devald (UTRGV) vs. Filip Stipic (SU) 6-2, 5-7, 3-3, unf. 
3. Karlo Krolo (UTRGV) def. Veselin Kiselkov (SU) 6-4, 6-4 
4. Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) def. Julian Worn (SU) 6-3, 6-1 
5. Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Michael Frank (SU) 6-1, 6-4 
6. Yu-Han Hsieh (SU) def. Chris Lawrance (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-0 
 
Doubles (1, 3, 2) 
1. Emilien Burnel/Borna Devald (UTRGV) def. Clement Hamel/Veselin Kiselkov (SU) 6-3  
2. Michael Frank/Julian Worn (SU) def. Karlo Krolo/Te Kani Williams (UTRGV) 7-6 (8:6)
3. Yu-Han Hsieh/Filip Stipic (SU) def. Chris Lawrance/Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) 6-4 

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