RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis team earned a 7-0 sweep, its first of the season, over the Nicholls (NICH) Colonels in a Southland Conference (SLC) match Monday at Orville Cox Tennis Center.
The Vaqueros (7-15, 3-2 SLC) swept a tight and intense doubles session winning all three courts with a spread of, at most, two games. On court one, graduate student
Sam Whitehead and sophomore
Loic Young Kriegel fell behind early, trailing 3-1, before winning back-to-back games to knot the match at 3-3. The teams traded games until 5-5 when Whitehead and Young broke to take a 6-5 advantage. A strong hold secured the first doubles win for UTRGV, 7-5.
On court two, juniors
Ivo Isqueiro and
Santiago Serrano traded games with their opponents, reaching 4-4, before finally breaking through to take a 5-4 lead. At match point, Isqueiro clinched the doubles point with a devastating serve.
Then, on court three, the pair of
Paolo Bonaguro and
Michael Chan rallied to win the set after an up-and-down deciding tiebreaker. Trailing 5-3, Bonaguro and Chan broke their opponents' serve and had a strong hold to knot the match at 5-5. The teams traded games to force the tiebreaker. The Vaqueros took a big 5-0 lead before dropping four in a row to make it 5-4. Then, they bounced back winning the next two points to take the set, 7-6 (7:4).
The Vaqueros rolled in singles play, winning all five of the six matches in straight sets.
Chan showcased his deceptively strong serve and unorthodox forehand to overpower
Charlie DuBos on court six. Chan won the first two games of the set before DuBos won his first. Chan bounced back, winning four in a row to take the set, 6-1. The second played out in a similar fashion as Chan took the set 6-1 to win the match.
Serrano played lengthy points, but powered through, to defeat
Mitchell Armbruster 6-2, 6-2 on court three. Serrano and Armbruster were knotted at 1-1 before Serrano won three in a row to take a 4-1 lead. The pair traded games as Serrano won the first set. In the second, Serrano and Armbruster traded games once again, but Serrano once again won three in a row at 3-2 to win the match.
Isqueiro was the clincher for UTRGV, showing great footwork, a powerful serve, and an even more powerful forehand. Isqueiro was feeling it today as he cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over
Arthur Oliani. Isqueiro won the first four games of the first set before dropping his only game. Then, in the second, he continued to dominate, winning 6-1.
Young and his opponent,
Mateo De Los Santos, played a tough first set as Young pushed through to win 6-4. In that set, Young led De Los Santos 4-3 before breaking to take a 5-3 lead. However, De Los Santos broke back to make it 5-4, but Young had the last laugh, breaking for the 6-4 first set win. Young rode the momentum into the second set, dominating to a 6-0 victory.
Junior
Will Roberts was locked in a battle with
Mitchell Spence on court five. In the first set, Roberts opened up to a 3-0 lead before Spence rallied back to a 4-3 deficit. Roberts and Spence traded breaks from there, with Roberts taking the set, 6-4. The second set, started exactly like the first, with Roberts taking a 4-3 advantage. Then, Roberts broke Spence's serve to go up 5-3. At deuce point, Roberts showed off his cannon flat serve, raced up to the net and crushed three overheads to win the match.
All eyes turned to Whitehead on court one, who was honored before the match as the only senior on the men's tennis team. Whitehead was locked in a battle with
Felipe Spagnuolo. With the first set knotted at 5-5, Whitehead rattled off eight straight points to win 7-5. Spagnuolo bounced back in the second, winning 6-3, to force the deciding tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Whitehead trailed 3-2 before winning four straight points to take a 6-3 lead. Whitehead never surrendered the lead, winning 1-0 (10:6) to solidify UTRGV's first 7-0 sweep of the season.
The Vaqueros will visit No. 9 Baylor on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Hurd Tennis Center. Fans can tune in via Baylor's
PlaySight or follow along with
live stats.
Results
Doubles (1, 2, 3)
1.
Sam Whitehead/
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Charlie DuBos/Marcell Marki (NICH), 7-5
2.
Ivo Isqueiro/
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Felipe Spagnuolo/Mateo De Los Santos (NICH), 6-4
3.
Paolo Bonaguro/Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV) def. Mitchell Armbruster/Arthur Oliani (NICH), 7-6 (7:4
Singles (6, 3, 2, 4, 5, 1)
1.
Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) def. Felipe Spagnuolo (NICH), 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10:6)
2.
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Arthur Oliani (NICH), 6-1, 6-1
3.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Mitchell Armbruster (NICH), 6-2, 6-2
4.
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Mateo De Los Santos (NICH), 6-4, 6-0
5.
Will Roberts (UTRGV) def. Mitchell Spence (NICH), 6-4, 6-0
6. Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV) def. Charlie DuBos (NICH), 6-1, 6-1
Support UTRGV Men's Tennis |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
