RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team hosts the North Dakota (UND) Fighting Hawks Friday at 4 p.m. at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. 
 
This will be the first matchup between the two teams. UTRGV (7-12) will look to continue its strong play on home courts, boasting a 4-1 record in the comfort of the Orville Cox Tennis Center. North Dakota (5-13, 1-1 Summit League) is wrapping up a Texas road trip that has seen the Fighting Hawks lose 6-1 at Lamar and win 7-0 at Prairie View A&M. 
 
The Vaqueros are coming off a hard-fought loss at #12 Texas A&M, where they played really tight matches in singles and doubles. Freshman Santiago Serrano built up some confidence by picking up his first Power Five win with a 0-6, 7-6 (7:4), 1-0 (10:7) victory in the No. 4 match. 
 
Senior captain Emilien Burnel and freshman Ivo Isqueiro swept the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) weekly awards after UTRGV's strong showing in Saturday's home doubleheader. Burnel was one of five Vaqueros to go 2-0 as UTRGV defeated former conference foe New Mexico State and Morgan State, earning WAC Singles Player of the Week honors. Burnel and Isqueiro were 2-0 in doubles and earned the Doubles Team of the Week nod. 
 
This will be the final match for the Vaqueros before a two-week pause in competition ahead of the start of WAC play. They'll look to continue showing progress with execution and developing their game styles, giving them an idea of specifics to fine-tune before the conference season begins. 

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