RIO GRANDE VALLEY – After three weeks on the road and playing its first seven matches away from home, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis team is excited to compete at the Orville Cox Tennis Center on Sunday. 
 
The Vaqueros (1-6, 0-0 Southland Conference) will play the home opener at 1 p.m. against the Prairie View A&M (PVAMU) Panthers (0-10, 0-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference). The match is part of a doubleheader with the women's teams from both universities and will be played at the conclusion of the 10 a.m. women's bout. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend. 
 
UTRGV holds a 21-1 all-time record against the Panthers and has won three in a row in the series. Last season, these teams met in Prairie View and the Vaqueros returned home with a 7-0 sweep. UTRGV has won two in a row via sweep against the Panthers. PVAMU's lone win in the series came in a tight 4-3 match in Edinburg in 2021. 
 
The Vaqueros have played a challenging schedule through the first month of the season, including opening the spring campaign at #1 Texas. They've played tough opponents tighter than the final scores show and have learned a lot about their game styles and levels through the first seven matches. 
 
UTRGV comes into this contest with some momentum after playing Texas Tech close and capturing a 4-3 win against Lubbock Christian. Though the Panthers come in winless, eight of their losses are to three teams, with four coming in consecutive matches against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 
 
The Vaqueros are still sorting through the doubles lineup but have found some consistency with redshirt junior Sam Whitehead and sophomore Ivo Isqueiro at the top of the singles lineup. Sophomore Santiago Serrano captured a pair of singles wins last weekend and has competed well regardless of where he lines up in singles. Sophomore Will Roberts played his first match at No. 1 singles in the win against Lubbock Christian and came out victorious. 
 
The Vaqueros will look to set the tone for this Sunday matinee early and enforce their game styles across all courts to rough out a win.   

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