HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team picked up ten wins at the Ralph O'Connor Invitational, hosted by Rice, Friday through Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
 
The Vaqueros shined in the A Draw as the duo of sophomore Michael Chan and senior Santiago Serrano earned a fifth-place finish earned a fifth-place finish in a singles and doubles competition featuring teams from Texas A&M (TAMU), Abilene Christian (ACU), Rice, SMU, UT Arlington (UTA), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) and UIW.
 
The seventh-seeded Vaqueros opened up their series with a 3-0 loss to the second-seeded ACU Wildcats duo of Luis Jose Nakamine and Gus Tettamble.
 
In the West Semifinal, Chan and Serrano battled past the sixth-seeded TAMUCC duo of Andres Delgadillo and Dani Lopez, sweeping all three matches in straight sets. In doubles, Chan and Serrano picked up a swift 6-2 win; meanwhile, in singles, Serrano defeated Delgadillo 6-2, 6-1 and Chan defeated Lopez 6-4, 6-2.
 
Chan and Serrano took on the eighth-seeded UIW duo of Alex Flores and Santiago Flyckt in the West Final. In a series played to a clinch, Chan and Serrano once again earned a 6-2 doubles victory before Chan dominated Flores 6-1, 6-0 to finish in fifth in the A Draw.
 
In the B Draw, freshman Miguel Bellorio and junior Loic Young Kriegel fought hard, pushing their respective opponents in several matches across the weekend.
 
In the opening round, Bellorio and Young Kriegel battled Rice's Noey Do and Gabriel Porras in doubles before falling 7-5. In singles, Young Kriegel took Porras to three sets, ultimately falling 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7:2).
 
In the second round, the UTRGV duo took on UIW's Marcel Miralles and Agustin Salazar. Bellorio and Young held off the Cardinals duo to a 6-4 win in doubles. Both singles matches went three sets with the Vaqueros picking up second set wins to force a deciding third. Young fell to Salazar 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 while Bellorio dropped his match to Miralles 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
 
Meanwhile, junior Camille Chantron and freshman Eoghan Samyn teamed up for UTRGV in the C Draw. The sixth-seeded Vaqueros took on the third-seeded duo of Gerardo Delgado and Ian Uraga from UIW.
 
The Vaqueros fell 2-1 in the opening round with Chantron taking the lone win for the duo. Chantron powered through a gritty first set win 7-6 (7:4) before Delgado bounced back to a 6-4 win in the second set. Chantron pulled away late in the deciding set, winning 7-5.
 
Chantron played one extra match in the weekend, defeating TAMUCC's Egor Gorin, 6-2, 6-3 to finish the weekend with a 2-1 singles record.
 
The Vaqueros will now turn their attention to the Southland Conference (SLC) Fall Championships for a chance to send one singles player and one doubles team from each gender to advance to the 2026 ITA Conference Masters Championship.
 
The SLC Fall Championships will be held from Oct. 22-25 in Lake Charles, La. at McNeese's Nancy Hank Tennis Center.
 
Tournament Results
A Draw
Quarterfinal
Luis Jose Nakamine/Gus Tettamble (ACU) def. Tsz Him Chan/Santiago Serrano (UTRGV), 6-3
Luis Jose Nakamine (ACU) def. Santiago Serrano (UTRGV), 7-6 (7:5), 6-3
Gus Tettamble (ACU) def. Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV), 7-5, 6-3
 
West Semifinal
Tsz Him Chan/Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Andres Delgadillo/Dani Lopez (TAMUCC), 6-2
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Andres Delgadillo (TAMUCC), 6-2, 6-1
Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV) def. Dani Lopez (TAMUCC), 6-4, 6-2
 
West Final
Tsz Him Chan/Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Alex Flores/Santiago Flyckt (UIW), 6-2
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Santiago Flyckt (UIW), 6-2, 6-1
Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV) def. Alex Flores (UIW), 6-1, 6-0
 
B Draw
Quarterfinal
Noey Do/Gabriel Porras (Rice) def. Miguel Bellorio/Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 7-5
Gabriel Porras (Rice) def. Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7:2)
Noey Do (Rice) def. Miguel Bellorio (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-3
 
West Semifinal
Miguel Bellorio/Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Marcel Miralles/Agustin Salazar (UIW), 6-4
Agustin Salazar (UIW) def. Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Marcel Miralles (UIW) def. Miguel Bellorio (UTRGV), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
 
South Final
Filip Paroulek/Leon Grassnickel (UTA) def. Miguel Bellorio/Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 6-3
Filip Paroulek (UTA) def. Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 6-4, 6-0
Leon Grassnickel (UTA) def. Miguel Bellorio (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-1
 
C Draw
Quarterfinal
Gerardo Delgado/Ian Uraga (UIW) def. Camille Chantron/Eoghan Samyn (UTRGV), 6-4
Camille Chantron (UTRGV) def. Gerardo Delgado (UIW), 7-6 (7:4), 4-6, 7-5
Ian Uraga (UIW) def. Eoghan Samyn (UTRGV), 6-4, 6-3
 
West Semifinal
Christopher Bennett Wirahadipoernomo (UTA)/Rintaro Shukuda (LU) def. Camille Chantron/Eoghan Samyn (UTRGV), 6-4
Rintaro Shukuda (LU) def. Camille Chantron (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-4
Christopher Bennett Wirahadipoernomo (UTA) def. Eoghan Samyn (UTRGV), 6-4, 3-2 ret.
 
Extra Match
Camille Chantron (UTRGV) def. Egor Gorin (TAMUCC), 6-2, 6-3

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