WACO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis program will have four student-athletes competing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Texas Regional singles main draw for the first time since 2019, highlighted by a pair of victories each from junior Juana Gomez Weiss and senior Rhea Makesar on Thursday.
 
Gomez Weiss and Makesar led UTRGV to six singles victories, including four opening-round wins, at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center. The pair will join sophomore Mariangel Estrella and senior Hitakamya Narwal, who advanced as the lucky loser, in Friday's singles main draw.
 
The Vaqueros were one of three programs to send multiple players through qualifying and into the main draw, joining Baylor (BU) and Rice, which each advanced three. Other schools that sent one qualifier into the main draw include Abilene Christian (ACU), Houston (UH), North Texas (UNT), SMU, Texas A&M (TAMU), Texas State (TXST), Texas Tech (TTU), and UTSA.
 
The singles main draw will feature student-athletes from 18 programs, with UTRGV sending the seventh-most players (4), trailing only TTU (9), BU (8), Rice (7), SMU (6), UNT (6), and UH (5).
 
Makesar, one of two seeded Vaqueros in the qualifying round, opened the tournament with a swift 6-3, 6-3 win over Aruzhan Nuranbay from Tarleton. In the second round, Makesar continued to roll, dominating Julia Ionescu from ACU, 6-2, 6-4.
 
Gomez Weiss opened qualifying with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tarleton's Marissa Minetti before defeating Marie Krymlova from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) by an identical score to secure her spot in the main draw.
 
Two other Vaqueros opened the tournament with first-round victories, including junior Luna Buijtenhuijs and senior Hitakamya Narwal.
 
Narwal picked up a solid straight-sets win over Tarleton's Erika Abraham-Nilsen, 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round before falling 6-4, 6-3 to ACU's Anna Krljic. Following the qualifying round, Narwal earned a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser.
 
Buijtenhuijs played a grueling three-set match against Laia Tarazona Peyro from UTSA. She dropped the opening set 7-5 before bouncing back to a 6-3 second-set win. Buijtenhuijs completed the comeback with a 6-4 victory in the deciding set. She retired in the next round after going down 6-2, 3-0 to No. 1 seed Francesca Maguina Bunikowska from Rice.
 
Estrella, Gomez Weiss, Makesar, and Narwal will begin the main draw Friday while the doubles teams take the court for the first time.
 
Fans can follow along through the tournament page on the ITA website.
 
UTRGV Thursday Results
Qualifying Round of 64
Luna Buijtenhuijs (UTRGV) def. Laia Tarazona Peyro (UTSA), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV) def. Marissa Minetti (Tarleton), 6-3, 6-4
Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) def. Aruzhan Nuranbay (Tarleton), 6-3, 6-3
Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) def. Erika Abraham-Nilsen (Tarleton), 6-1, 6-4
Vlada Razina (UH) def. Mirka Delaney (UTRGV), 6-0, 6-3
Diana Khaydarshina (UTSA) def. Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV), 6-1, 6-1
 
Qualifying Round of 32
Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV) def. Marie Krymlova (TAMUCC), 6-3, 6-4
Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) def. Julia Ionescu (ACU), 6-2, 6-4
Francesca Maguina Bunikowska (Rice) def. Luna Buijtenhuijs (UTRGV), 6-2, 3-0 ret.
Anna Krljic (ACU) def. Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV), 6-4, 6-3
 
Consolation Qualifying Round of 32
Alem Cote (ACU) def. Mirka Delaney (UTRGV), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10:7)
Maria Isabel Suarez (UTA) def. Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV), 4-6, 7-6 (7:2), 1-0 (10:2)
 
UTRGV Friday Schedule
Singles
Main Draw Round of 64
Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV) vs. Kseniya Ramanouskaya (TAMUCC), 12:30 p.m.
Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) vs. Anna Huisgen (Tarleton), 12:30 p.m.
Mariangel Estrella (UTRGV) vs. No. 10 Nithesa Selvaraj (Rice), 2 p.m.
Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) vs. No. 6 Sofiia Mykhailets (TCU), 3:30 p.m.
 
Doubles
Main Draw Round of 64
Mirka Delaney/Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV) vs. Avery Arant/Kinley VanPelt (TXST), 8 a.m.
Mariangel Estrella/Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) vs. Jennifer Jackson/Valerie Shue (TTU), 9:30 a.m.
 
Main Draw Round of 32
Luna Buijtenhuijs/Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) vs. Ella Brownback/Laura Valentine Pop (TTU), 9:30 a.m.
 
Support UTRGV Vaqueros™ | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube