RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team enjoyed its home opener Sunday as it rolled to a 6-1 win over the Prairie View A&M (PVAMU) Panthers at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
UTRGV (2-6, 0-0 Southland Conference) played tough in doubles to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The No. 3 duo of freshmen
Eduardo Menezes and
Isaac Smyth got things started with a swift 6-1 win. In the top flight, the Chilean duo of sophomore
Santiago Serrano and freshman
Loic Young Kriegel secured the doubles point with a clean 6-2 win.
On Court Two, redshirt junior
Sam Whitehead and sophomore
Paolo Bonaguro found themselves in a back-and-forth thriller with PVAMU's
Eduardo Flores and
Devyn Gans. They exchanged games throughout, never allowing the other team to lead by more than one. At 6-6, they played a tiebreaker that was just as much of a roller coaster as the first 12 games. The Panthers duo got within reach of the win at 6:4, then the Vaqueros pair found another gear. Whitehead/Bonaguro won the next three points, using a big serve and good movement to win, 7-6 (8:6).
The Vaqueros continued to roll in singles, taking the first set on five courts behind their rowdy energy. Serrano was electric on the fourth court, racing off the court with a 6-1, 6-0 win. Whitehead leaned on his smart play to earn a 6-2, 6-1 in the first flight.
In his collegiate debut, Brownsville St. Joseph alum
Francisco Gamez clinched the win for UTRGV with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on Court Six.
Smyth also earned his first singles win of his career with a 6-4, 6-1 match on the fifth court to grow the UTRGV lead to 5-0. PVAMU got on the board with a straight-set win in the third match.
Young capped the exciting day with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 2. He held off a valiant comeback attempt from PVAMU's
Abdulraheem Isa, who took a 5-4 lead late in the second set. Young, with his teammates cheering him on, executed great shots and covered the court well to frustrate his opponent and secure the win.
UTRGV will be back in action Thursday at 1:30 p.m. for a South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. The match will be the second played in a doubleheader with the women's teams from both schools scheduled to play at 10 a.m. Admission is free and the community is encouraged to attend.
Results
Doubles (3, 1, 2)
1.
Santiago Serrano/
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Xavier Peter-Gooding/Abdulraheem Isa (PVAMU) 6-2
2.
Sam Whitehead/
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) def. Eduardo Flores/Devyn Gans (PVAMU) 7-6 (8:6)
3.
Eduardo Menezes/
Isaac Smyth (UTRGV) def. Tafari Dudley/Omari Dudley (PVAMU) 6-1
Singles (4, 1, 6, 5, 3, 2)
1.
Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Eduardo Flores (PVAMU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Loic Young (UTRGV) def. Abdulraheem Isa (PVAMU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Xavier Peter-Gooding (PVAMU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-3, 6-3
4.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Ashton Bunch (PVAMU) 6-1, 6-0
5.
Isaac Smyth (UTRGV) def. Devyn Gans (PVAMU) 6-4, 6-1
6.
Francisco Gamez (UTRGV) def. Tafari Dudley (PVAMU) 6-2, 6-3
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