ABILENE – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team battled to the end but fell, 4-3, in a close Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match to the Abilene Christian (ACU) Wildcats Sunday at the Eager Tennis Pavilion to close the regular season.
The Vaqueros will be the #5 seed at the WAC Tennis Tournament hosted by UTRGV at the HEB Tennis Center at Pendleton Park in Harlingen and running Thursday through Saturday. They'll play a quarterfinals match Thursday against #4 Seattle U at 9 a.m.
The Wildcats opened a 1-0 lead after wins on the second and third doubles courts. UTRGV's (8-16, 0-4 WAC) top duo of senior captain
Emilien Burnel and freshman
Ivo Isqueiro captured a hard-earned 7-6 (8:6) win, battling and complementing each other well on the court.
ACU extended its lead to 2-0 with a win on the sixth singles court. Then, the Vaqueros went on a run to jump out to a 3-2 lead.
Isqueiro got things started with a clean 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 2, continuing to show impressive progress throughout his freshman season. Sophomore McAllen Memorial alum
Agustin Salazar looked solid on the fourth court and got stronger as the bout went on to take a 6-4, 6-1 win.
Freshman
Santiago Serrano fought for a three-set win at No. 3 to put the Vaqueros on top, 3-2. He took the first set and showed his resilience after dropping the second to take a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win in a back-and-forth match.
All eyes turned to Court One where Burnel was battling
Daniel Linkuns-Morozovs. After dropping the first set, Burnel rebounded well to take the second and force a full third. Linkuns-Morozovs went up 4-1, but the competitive Burnel leaned on his athleticism to get the set to 5-3. Linkuns-Morozovs held on to take the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and clinch the victory for ACU.
UTRGV Results
Doubles (2, 3, 1)
1.
Emilien Burnel/
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Cesar Barranquero/Daniel Linkuns-Morozovs (ACU) 7-6 (8:6)
2. Benjamin McDonald/Ethan Scribner (ACU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro/
Will Roberts (UTRGV) 6-1
3. Jose Maria Rastrojo/Merse Deli (ACU) def.
Agustin Salazar/
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) 6-3
Singles (6, 2, 4, 3, 5, 1)
1. Daniel Linkuns-Morozovs (ACU) def.
Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Mihaly Deli (ACU) 6-3, 6-3
3.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Cesar Barranquero (ACU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
4.
Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) def. Merse Deli (ACU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Dennis Dutine (ACU) def.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) 7-6 (8:6), 6-2
6. Martin Delnido (ACU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-3
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