RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team rallied after dropping the doubles point to capture a hard-earned 5-2 victory Thursday over the UT Permian Basin (UTPB) Falcons at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
The Falcons (4-4, 0-0 Lone Star Conference) took the early 1-0 advantage after wins on the top two doubles courts.
Grzegorz Rudnicki/Florian Kralik took a 6-2 win on the second court, but UTRGV evened the session up with a solid 6-3 win by sophomore
Ivo Isqueiro and freshman
Eduardo Menezes in the third flight.
On the top court, sophomore
Santiago Serrano and freshman
Loic Young Kriegel bounced back nicely after falling behind, 4-1, to get to 5-4. But UTPB's team of
Jonathan Vega/Jonas Krahofer held on for the 6-4 win to secure the doubles point.
The Vaqueros (4-13, 0-0 Southland Conference) tied things up at 1-1 with a quick win on the fourth court by Young. The freshman leaned on his athleticism to pick up a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Isqueiro gave UTRGV a 2-1 lead with a good win in the second flight. He was strong from the baseline and endured long rallies in a competitive bout en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win.
The competitive match saw four bouts go the distance under the relentless Texas sun. Sophomore
Will Roberts inched the Vaqueros closer to victory with a three-set win in the fifth flightl. He showed his resilience to bounce back after dropping the first set to cruise in the next two, using early leads to take control in the final two sets to get the 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Serrano clinched UTRGV's victory with a 7-6 (7:4), 4-6, 6-4 win in the third flight. His match went back-and-forth with exciting rallies and Serrano found another level when things got tough to make it two wins in a row for the Vaqueros. UTPB got one back with a three-set win on Court Six.
Redshirt junior
Sam Whitehead gutted out a comeback win in the No. 1 flight. He dropped a tight first set, then bounced back with sharp play to take the second. The third set was a battle from start to finish. Whitehead took a 2-0 lead, then Vega went on a run to jump on top, 5-2. Whitehead answered to even things up at 5-5, then the intensity of the competitive match picked up. Whitehead covered the court well, sliding from the baseline to the net to mix up strong strokes and drop over quick-dropping slice shots. The captain fought through exhaustion in the nearly three hour match to get a hard-earned 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win.
UTRGV's next match is Monday at 9 a.m. at Prairie View A&M.
Results
Doubles (2, 3, 1)
1. Jonathan Vega/Jonas Krahofer (UTPB) def.
Santiago Serrano/
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) 6-4
2. Grzegorz Rudnicki/Florian Kralik (UTPB) def.
Sam Whitehead/
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-2
3.
Eduardo Menezes/
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Lucas Nitzschke/Sergio Gonzalez (UTPB) 6-3
Singles (4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 1)
1.
Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Jonathan Vega (UTPB) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
2.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Grzegorz Rudnicki (UTPB) 6-4, 6-4
3.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Sergio Gonzalez (UTPB) 7-6 (7:4), 4-6, 6-4
4.
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Jonas Krahofer (UTPB) 6-3, 6-1
5.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) def. Lucas Nitzschke (UTPB) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Florian Kralik (UTPB) def.
Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-7 (6:8), 6-3
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