THIBODAUX, La. – It's tournament time for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's (UTRGV) men's tennis team, and the #4 Vaqueros have one clear mission in mind: win. 
 
UTRGV (10-14) came just short of claiming the regular season Southland Conference (SLC) title and is chomping at the bit to get another chance this week at SLC Tennis Championships. The Vaqueros will face the #5 New Orleans (UNO) Privateers (12-7) in the quarterfinal round Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex. 
 
"The guys have one thing in mind and that's a ring," head coach Nathan Robinson said. "They know they have to take it one match at a time, but they firmly believe they are the best team in the conference. We know how close that regular season championship match was, it was kind of a heartbreaker, but they also know that's fuel. They're excited to get back to work and see if they can finish the job in the tournament." 
 
UTRGV has competed once before in the SLC tournament back in 2010 and reached the semifinals. It was the first of four seasons spent in the Southland and the only trip to the tournament the program made. Similarly to this first tournament since the move from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), the Vaqueros were the #4 seed in 2010 and defeated the #5 seed. 
 
The Vaqueros are 1-5 all-time against the Privateers but did go to New Orleans and pick up a 5-2 win in March as part of their eight-match winning streak this season. That first battle was a dog fight, Robinson said, with four of six singles matches going to three sets. Redshirt junior Sam Whitehead, sophomore Ivo Isqueiro and freshman Eduardo Menezes grinded out three-set wins to aid the victory. All three earned All-Conference honors Tuesday, headlined by Whitehead being selected as the SLC Men's Tennis Player of the Year. 
 
UTRGV is expecting just as much of a fight on Thursday, and the team feels prepared for what's coming. A win over UNO would send the Vaqueros to the semifinals, where they will play either #1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or #8 Nicholls at 12 p.m. Friday. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m. 
 
"It was a battle when we played New Orleans back in March and the guys know it's going to be a fight. If they take care of business, they'll be fine, but they know that New Orleans isn't going to roll over. We're going to have to be competitive at every spot," Robinson said. "It's been a great year. Super proud of the way we've grown and the performances we've put together, especially in the last two months. It's a young team so we're hoping this is just the start of something very, very special." 

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