CORPUS CHRISTI – When Saturday's Southland Conference (SLC) regular season championship match ended, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis team captain
Sam Whitehead had one message for his teammates: "This is far from over, boys."
The Vaqueros pushed the reigning SLC tournament champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (AMCC) Islanders, but fell, 4-3, in another incredibly competitive South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, match at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center. The loss snapped a nine-match winning streak for the Vaqueros (10-14, 4-1 SLC), who now wait to see what seed they'll be at the SLC Tennis Championships running April 24-26 at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex.
Whitehead's words were a challenge to his team to finish the fight if the rivals meet again at the conference tournament. This is the second 4-3 loss to Corpus (20-4, 5-0 SLC) for UTRGV this spring.
The Islanders opened the match with the 1-0 lead after picking up wins on the second and third doubles courts. The Vaqueros rallied back to jump on top, 3-1.
Whitehead dominated the No. 1 singles match against
Nathan Favier, who won the SLC fall individual championship and came into Saturday's bout undefeated in conference play. Whitehead was sharp from the first serve and captured a 6-3, 6-2 win over Favier, beating him for the second time this season. Whitehead finishes the conference season 4-1 in the first flight.
Sophomore
Will Roberts won his third conference match in a row in the No. 5 flight and finished the conference season 3-1. His athletic play led Roberts to a solid 6-3, 6-1 win. Freshman
Loic Young Kriegel fought for a 6-4, 6-4 win in a very even No. 4 match. He endured long rallies and delivered when the pressure was on to put his team ahead.
The Islanders evened the match at 3-3 with straight set wins on the sixth and second courts. UTRGV pushed sets to tiebreakers in both flights, but AMCC held on to turn all attention to Court 3.
Sophomore
Santiago Serrano went the distance against
Nicolas Trebuchet, treating the rowdy crowd to incredible tennis with long points and smart shots. Trebuchet closed the bout winning three games in a row to secure AMCC's championship.
With a pair of tennis wins Saturday, Corpus secured the South Texas Showdown win. The Islanders lead UTRGV, 34-22, with four points up for grabs based on men's and women's track & field results at the SLC Outdoor Championships in May.
Results
Doubles (2, 3)
1.
Santiago Serrano/
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) vs. Tom Berry/Harry Fouzas (AMCC) 5-6, unfinished
2. Etienne Marty/Omar Suarez (AMCC) def.
Sam Whitehead/
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV) 6-3
3. Matthieu Coignet/Nathan Favier (AMCC) def.
Ivo Isqueiro/
Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) 7-5
Singles (1, 5, 4, 6, 2, 3)
1.
Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Nathan Favier (AMCC) 6-3, 6-2
2. Omar Suarez (AMCC) def.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) 7-6 (7:2), 6-3
3. Nicolas Trebuchet (AMCC) def.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
4.
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Nicolas Chateau (AMCC) 6-4, 6-4
5.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) def. Tom Berry (AMCC) 6-3, 6-1
6. Harry Fouzas (AMCC) def.
Eduardo Menezes (UTRGV) 6-1, 7-6
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