WACO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team lost 4-0 to the #16 University of Illinois (UI) Fighting Illini and #17 Baylor University (BU) Bears at the Hurd Tennis Center.
 
The Vaqueros (2-10) opened the day with a hard-fought doubles point against #16 Illinois (6-2) as freshman Eduardo Menezes and sophomore Ivo Isqueiro battled to an even 6-6 (1:1) before going unfinished on court three. On court two, Senior Sam Whitehead and sophomore Paolo Bonaguro fell in a hard-fought 7-5 matchup. Illinois (0-0) secured the point with the win on court two and a 6-2 win on court one.
 
Illinois clinched the match with wins on courts one, three, and four. The other courts ended unfinished in the match.
 
On court two, sophomore Ivo Isqueiro battled with Illinois' William Mroz who is ranked No. 45 in the country. Mroz took a back-and-forth first set 6-4 and Isqueiro led the second 1-0 before ending unfinished.
 
On court six, freshman Eduardo Menezes dropped the first set 6-2 before finding his footing in a tight second set as the match went unfinished with Menezes leading 3-2.
 
In the second match of the ranked doubleheader, the Vaqueros once again showed fight in the doubles point against #17 Baylor (9-6) as Bonaguro and freshman Isaac Smyth dropped a gritty 7-5 set against Baylor's #80 ranked duo Luc Koenig and Imran Daniel Hazli. On court three, Menezes and Isqueiro ended unfinished trailing 6-6 (5:1).
 
In singles, Baylor clinched the match with wins on courts two, three, and six. The other courts ended unfinished in the match.
 
Isqueiro once again found himself in a battle with a ranked opponent as his match ended unfinished against #86 Oskar Bostrum Poulsen with Poulsen leading 6-2, 4-4 in the first flight.
 
Freshman Loic Young went blow-for-blow in the fourth flight, picking up a 6-4 win in the first set and holding the second set at 2-2 when the bout went unfinished.
 
Up next, UTRGV will begin a California road trip with a doubleheader against Saint Mary's College and the hosting UC Davis in Davis, California on Friday, March 7 beginning at 11 a.m.
 
Results vs #16 Illinois
Doubles
1. Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Andres De Los Rios/Pablo Segura (UI) 6-2
2. Kenta Miyoshi/William Mroz (Illinois) def. Kelly Giese/Jordan Georgiev (UI) 7-5
3. Ivo Isqueiro/Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) vs. Mathis Debru/Max Mrox (Illinois) 6-6 (1:1 unf.)
 
Singles
1. #12 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) 6-1, 6-2
2. #45 William Mroz (Illinois) vs. Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) 6-4, 0-1 (unf.)
3. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-0
4. #119 Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) 6-1, 6-0
5. Zach Viiala (Illinois) vs. Loic Young (UTRGV) 6-3, 1-2 (unf.)
6. Mathis Debru (Illinois) vs. Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) 6-2, 2-3 (unf.)
 
Results vs #17 Baylor
Doubles (1, 2) 
1. #12 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen/Marko Miladinovic (BU) def. Santiago Serrano/Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) 6-2
2. #80 Luc Koenig/Imran Daniel Hazli (BU) def. Paolo Bonaguro/Isaac Smyth (UTRGV) 7-5
3. Alexandru Chirita/Arman Zamani (BU) vs. Ivo Isqueiro/Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) 6-6 (5-1 unf.)
 
Singles (3, 2, 6)
1. #86 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen (BU) vs. Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) 6-2, 4-4 (unf.)
2. Zsombor Velcz (BU) def. Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-3
3. Luc Koenig (BU) def. Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-0
4. Loic Young (UTRGV) vs. Arman Zamani (BU) 6-4, 2-2 (unf.)
5. Imran Daniel Hazli (BU) vs. Will Roberts (UTRGV) 6-3, 5-2 (unf.)
6. Luis Jose Nakamine (BU) def. Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-1

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