ROME, Ga. – Seniors Paolo Bonaguro and Santiago Serrano are headed to the Round of 16 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Conference Masters Championships after defeating Aaron Dawson and Jy Hibbert of the University of Southern Indiana (USI) Screaming Eagles, 7-5, 6-4 Thursday at Rome Tennis Center.
 
The victory marked the first main draw win for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis program at the ITA Conference Masters Championships and the first for the Southland Conference (SLC) on the men's side since 2024.
 
The duo will now face the No. 1-seeded and nationally ranked No. 19 duo of Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner from Pepperdine in the Round of 16 on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The two doubles finalists at the ITA Conference Masters Championships will qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championships.
 
Doubles
 
Bonaguro and Serrano opened the match with a break after Serrano ripped a hard forehand return allowing Bonaguro to close and put the volley away. Serrano followed up with a devastating serve that was returned just long to solidify the break and take a 2-0 lead.
 
After trading service games, Dawson and Hibbert broke to knot the set at 3-3. The Vaqueros, however, responded as Serrano hit a deep backhand return and followed it up with a forehand passing shot to stay up a break at 4-3.
 
The Vaqueros took a 5-4 lead before the Screaming Eagles duo broke through to tie the opening set at 5-5. With USI serving, Bonaguro returned with a low backhand return that just scraped the service line, and the Screaming Eagles couldn't get the ball over the net. Bonaguro served out the set to claim the 7-5 win.
 
USI served to start the second, winning the opening game of the set at deuce. Then, Serrano knotted the set at 1-1 with an ace down the middle. In the following game, Bonaguro returned the serve out wide with a dominant crosscourt backhand that just clipped the line en route to a return winner to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Screaming Eagles broke back to even the set at 2-2 after deuce. USI carried the momentum to a 4-2 advantage.
 
With their backs against the wall in the second set, the Vaqueros broke back to cut the USI lead to 4-3. At game point on UTRGV's serve, Bonaguro served down the middle and the return was lifted and punched out of play by the closing Serrano to tie the match at 4-4.
 
With newfound momentum, Serrano hit a backhand lob return to set up the point before ripping a backhand down the middle. USI answered with a slow forehand that was cut off by Bonaguro for a winner on break point.
 
Leading 5-4, Serrano served down the middle and the crosscourt backhand return sailed just wide to seal the 6-4 second set win.
 
Singles
 
In the singles draw, Serrano matched up against one of the top eight seeds, Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar from Cornell.
 
Serrano battled in the opening set, trading service games with Kumar before the Cornell standout pulled away to take the set 6-3.
 
Serrano was set to face Victor Tosetto from Tulsa in the consolation round of 16 before Tosetto withdrew from the tournament, moving Serrano into the consolation quarterfinals.
 
UTRGV Thursday Results
Doubles
Round of 32
Paolo Bonaguro/Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Aaron Dawson/Jy Hibbert (USI), 7-5, 6-4
 
Singles
Round of 32
Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (Cornell) def. Santiago Serrano (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-1
 
Consolation Round of 16
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Victor Tosetto (Tulsa), Walkover
 
Consolation Quarterfinals
Michael Major (Howard) def. Santiago Serrano (UTRGV), Walkover
 
UTRGV Friday Schedule
Doubles
Round of 16
Paolo Bonaguro/Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) vs. #1 Aleksa Pisaric/Lasse Poertner (Pepperdine), 4:30 p.m.
 
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