RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Southland Conference (SLC) announced on Friday that The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis team earned a total of five all-conference honorees.
 
Sophomore Michael Chan earned first team all-conference honors at No. 6 singles while the teams of graduate student Sam Whitehead and sophomore Loic Young Kriegel and juniors Ivo Isqueiro and Santiago Serrano earned first-team all-conference honors at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles, respectively.
 
In addition, Whitehead and Isqueiro were also named to the second team all-conference in singles at the No. 1 and No. 2 courts, respectively.
 
The Vaqueros earned the second-most conference nominations, trailing only undefeated and regular season champion, UIW, which earned six all-conference nominations.
 
Chan earned a team-high 10 wins this season including a 9-5 record, 3-2 in SLC play at No. 6 singles. Chan started his year with a win against Rice before earning his first-ever power conference win against SMU, a 6-4, 6-3 win over Matthew Faraci. Chan continued to shine in non-conference play, earning wins against against New Mexico State, Idaho, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Chan opened his SLC career as the clinching match in UTRGV's 4-3 win over defending regular season champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and closed out conference play with straight-set wins against New Orleans and Nicholls.
 
Whitehead and Young teamed up late in the year, only finding their ideal pair one match prior to SLC play in a win over Morgan State. Ending the year with a 5-2 record, 4-1 in SLC play, the duo found their groove as they entered conference play. Whitehead and Young started hot with a big 6-4 win over court one at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The team then earned wins over Lamar, New Orleans, and Nicholls to round out conference play.
 
Isqueiro and Serrano teamed up for the first time this season in the conference opener, defeating defending SLC Champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-5, and added conference wins against Lamar, Nicholls, and New Orleans. Isqueiro and Serrano consistently delivered in high-leverage moments, clinching all four doubles points won by UTRGV during the conference slate and ending with a 4-2 overall record, 4-1 in conference play.
 
Whitehead anchored the top of the lineup for UTRGV, finishing his season on a 6-3 stretch over his final 11 matches, including a 3-2 record in SLC play, all at the top flight. Whitehead opened conference play with a straight-sets win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to help UTRGV to a 4-3 win over the Islanders. Whitehead also claimed wins over New Orleans and Nicholls. He started his 6-3 run with road wins against Jackson State and Morgan State and a neutral site win against UC San Diego.
 
Isqueiro capped his season with a dominant 6-1 record in his last nine matches, including a 4-1 record in SLC play. While trailing 3-2 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Isqueiro completed his 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback win over Omar Suarez to knot the match at 3-3. Isqueiro went on to earn straight-set wins over New Orleans and Nicholls, clinching both matches with his singles wins. His other two wins during that stretch came at Alcorn State and at Morgan State. The final match of the nine-match stretch was abandoned as he held double set point against Alexandru Chirita of #11 Baylor to potentially force a deciding super tiebreaker.
 
#2 UTRGV will face #3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the semifinals of the SLC Men's Tennis Tournament Monday at 10 a.m. at Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center.
 
2026 Southland Men's Tennis All-Conference Teams
First Team
No. 1 singles – Alejandro Hernandez, UIW
No. 2 singles – Emilio Vila, UIW
No. 3 singles – Etienne Marty, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 4 singles – Ethan Dasset, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 5 singles – Santiago Flyckt, UIW
No. 6 singles – Michael Chan, UTRGV
No. 1 doubles – Sam Whitehead/Loic Young Kriegel, UTRGV
No. 2 doubles – Ivo Isqueiro/Santiago Serrano, UTRGV
No. 3 doubles – Ethan Dasset and Josef Zapletal, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
 
Second Team
No. 1 singles – Sam Whitehead, UTRGV
No. 2 singles – Ivo Isqueiro, UTRGV
No. 3 singles – Rintaro Shukuda, Lamar
No. 4 singles – Augustin Salazar, UIW
No. 5 singles – Vincente Monge, Lamar
No. 6 singles – Louis Drapeau, Lamar
No. 1 doubles – Matthieu Coignet/Mikel Garmendia, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 2 doubles – Alejandro Hernandez/Alexandre Chauvel, UIW
No. 3 doubles – Emilio Vila/Augustin Salazar, UIW
 
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