NEW ORLEANS – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team is set to play three matches in three days in Louisiana, including its first two Southland Conference (SLC) contests.
 
The action begins Saturday at 3 p.m. as UTRGV (5-13, 0-0 SLC) faces the New Orleans Privateers (8-4, 0-0) in the conference opener at the Privateer Tennis Center. This will be the first meeting between these programs since 2020, when the Vaqueros traveled to New Orleans and fell, 5-2. UTRGV is 5-10 all-time against New Orleans and hasn't beat the Privateers since 1999. 
 
The Vaqueros will battle the Dillard Bleu Devils (6-4, 0-0 Red River Athletic Conference) for the first time in program history Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Dillard Tennis Facility in New Orleans. 
 
UTRGV plays its second SLC match Monday at 11 a.m. against the Nicholls Colonels (6-5, 0-0 SLC) at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex, which will host the 2025 SLC Tennis Championships. The Colonels will open their conference season Saturday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Vaqueros are 9-8 all-time against Nicholls and won the last meeting between these programs, 5-2, in 2022 in a neutral site match. Monday's match will be UTRGV's first in Thibodaux since 2020. 
 
The Vaqueros are heading into this stretch of matches riding a season-long three-match winning streak. Sophomore Will Roberts is 3-0 in singles during that streak, leading to the first SLC Men's Tennis Player of the Week award for UTRGV this spring. 
 
"I think we have some very good momentum going into the conference matches," Roberts said. "Getting that award helps maintain my confidence and the winning streak, hopefully, will help us do better in these conference matches. It's going to be a fight with both teams but we're expecting to get two wins out of it and we hope we come home with three wins from the weekend." 
 
Head coach Nathan Robinson praised the fight he's seen from his team. The Vaqueros have battled in a number of tight three-set matches in recent weeks and they've done a good job of digging deep and finding ways to win. Robinson said that quality will be key as UTRGV heads into the conference season. 
 
"Our confidence is as high as it's been all year. We feel really good about where we are. We've done a really good job of fighting and finding our way through stuff. It's not always pretty, but we play with a lot of grit," Robinson said. "More grit will be needed as we get into conference. Those are two feisty teams. This is our first time playing at either school in a long time so it's going to be a lot of fun. We'll just have to be ready to go and if we take care of our side of the court, we'll be fine." 

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