RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team fell in a competitive match, 5-2, to the Grand Canyon (GCU) Lopes Thursday in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opener at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
GCU (6-11, 1-0 WAC) took the 1-0 lead with wins on the third and second doubles courts. UTRGV's (8-13, 0-1 WAC) top duo of senior captain
Emilien Burnel and freshman
Ivo Isqueiro played incredibly tough to capture a come-from-behind win at No. 1.
GCU's
Gerhard Sullwald/David Wekesa went up 5-2 on the top court, then Burnel/Isqueiro ripped three consecutive games to tie the bout. The Lopes again went on top, and the Vaqueros showed great fight to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Burnel and Isqueiro dominated from the service line in the deciding frame, blasting massive serves and moving well on defense to take the win, 7-6 (7:3).
UTRGV was resilient across all courts, pushing the matches on the first and fifth courts to third sets after dropping the opening frames. But the Lopes grew their lead to 3-0 with straight-set wins on the third and fourth courts. Isqueiro and freshman
Santiago Serrano were tough in their bouts, bouncing back after losing their first sets to push back-and-forth second sets to tiebreakers, but GCU picked up the wins at No. 3 and No. 4.
Sophomore McAllen Memorial alum
Agustin Salazar battled in an exciting match at No. 2, going toe-to-toe with GCU's
Pablo Carretero Salvador in a match filled with long rallies and points that drew appreciative cheers from the crowd. Despite good fight from Salazar, Salvador took a tough 7-5, 6-4 win to clinch the victory for GCU with the 4-0 lead.
Freshman
Paolo Bonaguro rallied on Court Five after a 6-3 first-set loss to take the second 6-4, but
Jonathan Da Silva held on to take the win, 6-1 in the third, to make it 5-0 in the match.
Freshman
Will Roberts picked up a 6-3 win in the first set of his No. 6 match but dropped the second, 6-4, to
Wyatt Anderson. The two exchanged blows early in the third to a 2-2 tie, then Roberts took control to jump on top and take the win 6-3, securing a dub in his first conference singles match.
Burnel displayed his resilience and incredible athleticism to capture a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7:3) victory in a thrilling No. 1 match with
Gerhard Sullwald. Burnel used his quickness to cover the court and showed his powerful serve often. He mixed up his shots, stroking well from the baseline and attacking the net to drop points over.
Up next for the Vaqueros is the Senior Day match April 7 at 11 a.m. against Seattle U at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend, and arrive early to watch as UTRGV honors the team captain, Burnel.
UTRGV Results
Doubles (3, 2, 1)
1.
Emilien Burnel/
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Gerhard Sullwald/David Wekesa (GCU) 7-6 (7:3)
2. Pablo Carretero Salvador/Alfred Almasi (GCU) def.
Agustin Salazar/
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) 6-4
3. Jonathan Da Silva/Wyatt Anderson (GCU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro/
Will Roberts (UTRGV) 6-1
Singles (3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 1)
1.
Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) def. Gerhard Sullwald (GCU) 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7:3)
2. Pablo Carretero Salvador (GCU) def.
Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-4
3. David Wekesa (GCU) def.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) 6-0, 7-6 (7:4)
4. Alfred Almasi (GCU) def.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) 6-4, 7-6 (7:4)
5. Jonathan Da Silva (GCU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
6.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) def. Wyatt Anderson (GCU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
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