RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team dropped a tight 5-2 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match to the Abilene Christian (ACU) Wildcats Saturday at Kiskeya Athletics. 
 
UTRGV (6-15, 1-2 WAC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead after an intense doubles session. Senior Chris Lawrance and sophomore Sam Whitehead picked up their second straight win at No. 3, handily defeating their opponents 6-3. ACU (12-10, 3-1 WAC) evened the session with a 6-3 win on the second court by Daniel Linkuns-Morozovs/Mihaly Deli. 
 
The Vaqueros sealed the doubles point in dramatic fashion in a competitive No. 1 match. After falling behind early, the top duo of junior Emilien Burnel and sophomore Borna Devald gutted out a heavyweight match that saw both teams make impressive plays and finished strong to force and win in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7:4). 
 
Devald continued his strong play in singles, cruising to a dominant 6-4, 6-0 win in his No. 2 match to put UTRGV up 2-0. 
 
The Wildcats took a 3-2 lead with wins by Savan Chhabra, Dario Kmet and Cesar Barranquero on the fourth, first and third courts. Mihaly Deli clinched the victory for ACU on the sixth court. Krolo battled to force a third set after dropping the first in his No. 3 match, but Barranquero held on for the win. 
 
Whitehead showed good fight in his No. 5 match, pushing Benjamin McDonald in both sets, but McDonald walked away with a 7-5, 7-6 (7:3) win. 
 
UTRGV's next match is Friday at Seattle U. The Vaqueros will close the regular season April 16 at Grand Canyon. 
 
Complete Results
Singles (2, 4, 1, 3, 6, 5) 
1. Dario Kmet (ACU) def. Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) 6-3, 6-2 
2. Borna Devald (UTRGV) def. Daniel Linkuns-Morozovs (ACU) 6-4, 6-0 
3. Cesar Barranquero (ACU) def. Karlo Krolo (UTRGV) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 
4. Savan Chhabra (ACU) def. Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) 6-1, 6-4 
5. Benjamin McDonald (ACU) def. Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) 7-5, 7-6 (7:3) 
6. Mihaly Deli (ACU) def. Chris Lawrance (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-2 
 
Doubles (3, 2, 1) 
1. Emilien Burnel/Borna Devald (UTRGV) def. Dario Kmet/Cesar Barranquero (ACU) 7-6 (7:4)
2. Daniel Linkuns-Morozovs/Mihaly Deli (ACU) def. Karlo Krolo/Te Kani Williams (UTRGV) 6-3 
3. Chris Lawrance/Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Savan Chhabra/Ethan Scribner (ACU) 6-3  

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