Fairfax, Va. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis team fell, 4-0, on the road against the George Mason University (GMU) Patriots Monday at University Tennis Center.
GMU got on the board first, earning wins on courts one and two during the doubles session. However, on court three, the UTRGV duo of junior
Paolo Bonaguro and sophomore
Tsz Him Chan led 5-4 before the match was abandoned.
UTRGV pushed GMU to third sets on three different courts, but the Patriots were able to overcome the challenge, winning on courts six, three, and five to earn the sweep.
Meanwhile, on court two, junior
Will Roberts was deadlocked in a back-and-forth match against
Niza Simunyola. The first set went the distance with Simunyola pulling off a 7-6 (7:4) win. Roberts bounced back in a big way, winning the first five games of the second set. However, Simunyola battled back, reaching 5-4, before Roberts served out the set to force the deciding third. Roberts broke Simunyola's serve to open the third before the match was abandoned with Roberts up 1-0.
On court one, graduate student
Sam Whitehead was locked in a tight battle with
Deniz Okyay. Okyay broke Whitehead's serve at 2-2 in the first set and served it out the rest of the way to win 6-4. In the second, Whitehead returned the favor. The two traded service games before Whitehead broke through with a break while leading 4-3. Whitehead would go on to win the set 6-4. The match would be abandoned with set three tied at 1-1.
On court three, sophomore
Loic Young Kriegel and
Ekansh Kumar played a fast three-set match. In the first set, Young and Kumar traded breaks at 2-1 to stay on serve at 3-2. Then, while leading 4-3, Young broke Kumar to take a 5-3 advantage before serving out the set, 6-3. Kumar went on to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-3 to win the match.
Meanwhile, on court three, the duo of junior
Paolo Bonaguro and sophomore
Tsz Him "Michael" Chan picked up a 6-4 win over
Alessio Guarino and
Ryan Wagner to secure the doubles point for the Vaqueros and extend their doubles win streak to four.
The Vaqueros will continue head to Morgan State for their second match of the day, which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
Results
Doubles (2, 1)
1. Ekansh Kumar/Monil Lotlikar (GMU) def.
Ivo Isqueiro/
Sam Whitehead (UTRGV), 6-4
2. Niza Simunyola/Edgar Vilain (GMU) def.
Will Roberts/
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 6-1
3.
Paolo Bonaguro/Tsz Him "Michael" Chan (UTRGV) vs. Deniz Okyay/Shaharyar Saeed (GMU), 5-4 uf.
Singles (6, 3, 5)
1.
Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) vs. Deniz Okyay (GMU), 4-6, 6-4, 1-1
2. Monil Lotlikar (GMU) vs.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV), 7-6 (7:2), 5-2
3. Ekansh Kumar (GMU) def.
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
4.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) vs. Niza Simunyola (GMU), 6-7 (7:4), 6-4, 1-0
5. Edgar Vilain (GMU) def. Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV), 7-6 (7:4), 6-2
6. Adria Franco (GMU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-3
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