RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team swept the Morgan State Bears, 7-0, Saturday to secure a 2-0 run in the first Rio Grande Valley Invitational at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
UTRGV (7-11) swept through the doubles session to take the 1-0 lead. Senior captain
Emilien Burnel and freshman
Ivo Isqueiro captured a quick 6-3 win in the top flight, then sophomore McAllen Memorial alum
Agustin Salazar and freshman
Santiago Serrano secured the doubles point with a 6-2 win at No. 3. The freshmen duo of
Paolo Bonaguro and
Will Roberts rallied in a tough No. 2 match to earn a 7-5 win.
The Vaqueros carried that momentum into the singles session, taking the first set on all six courts to maintain control of the match. Serrano was electric on Court Four, earning a swift 6-0, 6-1 win to extend the lead.
Burnel, Salazar and Roberts all closed out their matches within minutes of each other to grow UTRGV's lead to 5-0. Burnel was locked in a competitive fight at No. 1 and showed his athleticism to get a 6-3, 6-2 win. Salazar played well in a 6-2, 6-3 victory on Court Two. Roberts captured his fourth consecutive win with a quick 6-2, 6-3 bout on the sixth court.
Bonaguro battled in a lengthy duel at No. 5 and used his power to get a 7-6 (7:4), 6-0 win. Isqueiro won the first set of his No. 3 match, 6-4, then dropped the second, 3-6. With the team victory secured, he played a 10-point tiebreaker in the third and leaned on the energy brought by his teammates to take it, 10:6.
UTRGV won all nine matches in their second contest of the day, and had a solid 15-3 day combined across all courts.
Up next for the Vaqueros is an 11 a.m. match Wednesday at #10 Texas A&M.
UTRGV Results
Doubles (1, 3, 2)
1.
Emilien Burnel/
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Mikeal Carpenter/Makkijha Brown (MST) 6-3
2.
Paolo Bonaguro/
Will Roberts (UTRGV) def. Rhajzon Rankins/Antonio Santos (MST) 7-5
3.
Agustin Salazar/
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Bertin Karenzi/Tezas Singh (MST) 6-2
Singles (4, 1, 2, 6, 5, 3)
1.
Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) def. Mikeal Carpenter (MST) 6-3, 6-2
2.
Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) def. Rhajzon Rankins (MST) 6-2, 6-3
3.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Makkijha Brown (MST) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10:6)
4.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Bertin Karenzi (MST) 6-0, 6-1
5.
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) def. Anthony Parris (MST) 7-6 (7:4), 6-0
6.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) def. Ameer Muhammad (MST) 6-2, 6-3
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