RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team defended home courts Sunday with a 6-1 win over the Prairie View A&M (PVAMU) Panthers at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
UTRGV (2-1, 0-0 Southland) improved to 2-0 at home with the solid win. The Vaqueros set the tone for the match in doubles, sweeping through the session and only allowing the Panthers to win one game. The No. 2 duo of sophomores
Madeleine Joffe and
Hitakamya Narwal rolled to a 6-0 win, and on court three, junior
Valentina Urraco and senior
Kristal Dule quickly followed suit with a 6-0 victory to secure the 1-0 lead.
The Panthers got one back when behind 5-0 in the first flight, but the top duo of sophomore
Rhea Makesar and freshman
Mariia Bakhtina bounced right back to finish the match, 6-1.
Bakhtina carried her doubles momentum onto the sixth singles court and didn't give her opponent an inch. She cruised to a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win, extending the lead to 2-0. Narwal looked solid on the fourth court, too, rolling to a 6-1, 6-1 victory with her level play.
Joffe clinched the match victory in the third flight, holding off a late comeback attempt by PVAMU's
Daniela Garcia with her strong serve, capturing a 6-2, 6-4 win. In the fifth flight, Urraco picked up her second win of the day with a gritty 6-3, 6-2 battle.
With the team victory secured and UTRGV leading 5-0, all eyes turned to the top two courts, where Dule and Makesar were locked in exciting matches.
Dule rallied in a grueling match to win in a 10-point tiebreaker. She fell behind 3-0 in the first set, then fought back to tie at 5-5 before PVAMU's
Ainara Vegal Rodriguez won the last two games to take the frame, 7-5. Dule showed great resilience in the second, bouncing back from a 2-0 deficit to rip six games in a row for a 6-2 win, sending the bout to a third frame. The 10-point tiebreaker, like the rest of the match, went back-and-forth and showcased the incredible athleticism of both student-athletes. They played long rallies, testing each other on the baseline and sneaking in soft touches to force each other to the net. Dule's stamina carried her to a strong finish, securing the win 1-0 (10:5).
The Panthers got on the board with the final match to finish as
Andrea Pascual pulled off a three-set victory. Pascual won the first set, 6-2, before Makesar responded with a resounding 6-0 win in the second. Because the No. 2 match started before the team victory was secured, a full third set was played. The two exchanged games until Pascual gained some cushion up 4-2, but Makesar continued to compete hard and trimmed it to 5-4. Pascual finished the bout with a 6-4 set win.
UTRGV will be back in action Thursday at 10 a.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 kick off a Showdown doubleheader as the men's teams from both schools will play at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free and the community is encouraged to attend.
Results
Doubles (2, 3, 1)
1.
Rhea Makesar/
Mariia Bakhtina (UTRGV) def. Andrea Pascual/Daniela Garcia (PVAMU) 6-1
2.
Madeleine Joffe/
Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) def. Ainara Vegal Rodriguez/Amaya Bobadilla (PVAMU) 6-0
3.
Valentina Urraco/
Kristal Dule (UTRGV) def. Cierra Garcia/Joanne Fernandes (PVAMU) 6-0
Singles (6, 4, 3, 5, 1, 2)
1.
Kristal Dule (UTRGV) def. Ainara Vegal Rodriguez (PVAMU) 5-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10:5)
2. Andrea Pascual (PVAMU) def.
Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
3.
Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV) def. Daniela Garcia (PVAMU) 6-2, 6-4
4.
Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) def. Joanne Fernandes (PVAMU) 6-1, 6-1
5.
Valentina Urraco (UTRGV) def. Yasmin El Fadili (PVAMU) 6-3, 6-2
6.
Mariia Bakhtina (UTRGV) def. Chyna Welborn (PVAMU), 6-0, 6-0
Support UTRGV Women's Tennis |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
