RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis program is set to host its final matches of the season against the New Orleans (UNO) Privateers and the Nicholls (NU) Colonels this weekend at Orville Cox Tennis Center.
Last Time Out
UTRGV dropped a pair of tight 4-3 matches at Lamar and at Incarnate Word last weekend.
Against Lamar, UTRGV faced an uphill battle after losing the doubles point, but battled in singles to make it a 3-2 deficit thanks to wins from junior
Rhea Makesar on court five and sophomore
Mariia Bakhtina on court six.
That left the middle courts to determine the match, sophomore
Luna Buijtenhuijs wrapped up a hard-fought, straight sets win over
Martina Alcaino. Buijtenhuijs won the first set 6-2 and went the distance with a 7-6 (8:6) win in the second set.
Then, sophomore
Hitakamya Narwal fell in her three-set battle on court three as Lamar clinched the win.
Against Incarnate Word, the Vaqueros took the doubles point with an emphatic 6-1 win on court three and a tough 7-5 win on court two.
The Vaqueros took a 2-0 lead as senior
Yaiza Vazquez took a swift 6-4, 6-2 win on court two. The Cardinals responded with three consecutive wins to take a 3-2 lead.
On court five, Makesar dug deep to pull out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 victory over
Victoria Jordana Salcedo Franklin to knot the match at 3-3.
The Cardinals clinched with a three-set win on court six.
UTRGV enters the weekend in ninth in the Southland Conference and are set to face the eighth-place team, UNO, and the tenth-place team, NU. The top eight teams from the SLC will qualify for the SLC Women's Tennis Tournament.
New Orleans – April 4, 2 p.m. – Orville Cox Tennis Center – Edinburg, Texas
The Vaqueros will host the New Orleans (UNO) Privateers Saturday at 2 p.m. in their senior day match. In between the men's and women's matches, UTRGV will honor its women's tennis seniors at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
UTRGV is 6-8 all-time against the UNO, but won the most recent matchup, a 5-2 battle in New Orleans last season. This will be the first time that UTRGV hosts UNO since its 5-1 win in 1989.
In their last matchup, UTRGV won the doubles point and secured the win with victories on courts three through six in singles play. Returners Vazquez and Narwal were victorious in their matchups against the Privateers.
UNO is 8-7 overall and has a 2-4 record in SLC play this season. The Privateers are coming off a 1-1 homestand, picking up a 4-3 win over Southeastern and falling 5-2 to McNeese.
UNO is led by
Fleur Sprengers and
Kateryna Kalistratova who have amassed a combined 24-3 record at courts one and two this season. Both Sprengers and Kalistratova are 5-1 in SLC play this season.
All matches at Orville Cox Tennis Center are free and open to the public. Fans can also follow along through
live stats.
Nicholls – April 6, 11 a.m. – Orville Cox Tennis Center – Edinburg, Texas
UTRGV will take on NU in its final match at home Monday at 11 a.m. at Orville Cox Tennis Center. The Vaqueros are 4-8 all-time against the Colonels but won the most recent matchup, a 6-1 match at Nicholls, last season.
In their most recent matchup, UTRGV picked up wins at the top five singles courts and took the doubles point. Returners Makesar, Vazquez, and Narwal earned singles wins on courts one, three, and five, respectively.
NU enters the weekend with a 4-10 overall record and a 0-6 record in SLC play. The Colonels are coming off their first win since February, a 4-0 sweep against Southern.
NU is has two doubles teams at or above .500 on the season as the duo of
Aada Inna and
Paulina Villegas are 4-2 at the number one spot and the duo of
Julia Bordiginon and
Jada Iverson are 3-3 on court three.
The Colonels will take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday prior to their match against UTRGV.
All matches at Orville Cox Tennis Center are free and open to the public. Fans can also follow along through
live stats.
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