RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team experienced ups-and-downs in their second season in the Southland Conference (SLC) but pushed through for their second-consecutive second-place finish.
 
The Vaqueros opened the season with a monumental home match, hosting both Arkansas and Rice at the H-E-B Tennis Center in Harlingen. In that weekend, the Vaqueros took one point from both the Razorbacks and the Owls, hosted more than 500 fans for the weekend, and hosted a clinic for more than 80 children.
 
"It was a really awesome weekend, not just for our team, but for the Valley. To be able to host an SEC school like Arkansas and the American Champions in Rice, it was a great way for us to kick off our year," Robinson said. "I'm thankful to the people at H-E-B Tennis Center in Harlingen, which is an amazing place to play and host, and we're very thankful for Jay [Udwadia] at Arkansas and Efe [Ustentag] at Rice for agreeing to come down for these matches."
 
UTRGV picked up its first win the following weekend, defeating Saint Louis 4-1 in Oklahoma. The Vaqueros also shined in moments during the weekend as the duo of junior Will Roberts and graduate student Sam Whitehead earned the team's lone ranked win of the season, defeating No. 70 Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy from Saint Joseph's.
 
The Vaqueros returned to the win column during their Mississippi swing, as they defeated Jackson State, 4-1, and Alcorn State, 4-0. The Vaqueros extended their win streak to three with a win over Mount St. Mary's before opening conference play before dropping back-to-back matches in Maryland.
 
Conference play opened the same way it concluded last season, a matchup between rivals. The Vaqueros rode into Corpus Christi last season with a spotless 4-0 conference record, also facing an undefeated in conference play Islanders squad for the regular season championship. The match went the distance with the Islanders winning 4-3.
 
"The guys were extremely motivated off last year's finish," Robinson said. "We had great success but also experienced a heartbreaking end."
 
In this year's edition, the match also went the distance. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) held a 3-2 lead before rattling off singles wins on court two and six to clinch the match. This match was the program's first win over TAMUCC since 2023 and clinched the department's third-ever South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.


"I was super proud of our energy that day. We knew that to beat them, we had to be the tougher team, and we were today," Robinson said. "Anytime that [UTRGV] can take the showdown, and we can be the ones to do it, it's just awesome."
 
UTRGV clinched its place in the SLC Tournament during the final weekend of conference play, defeating New Orleans and Nicholls. In those matches, the Vaqueros took 13 of 14 total points between the two matches.
 
"It's awesome that we were able to go 3-0 at Orville Cox Tennis Center this season," Robinson said. "It was big for us to be able to clinch our spot for the second year in a row. Going into the tournament, we knew it was going to be 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, seeding rather than the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4."
 
The Vaqueros' success carried over into postseason awards as five Vaqueros earned Southland All-Conference honors. Leading the way was the UTRGV team captain Whitehead, who was named to first team all-conference at No. 1 doubles, alongside sophomore Loic Young Kriegel, and second team all-conference at No. 1 singles.
 
Similarly, junior Ivo Isqueiro was named first team all-conference at No. 2 doubles, alongside junior Santiago Serrano, and second team all-conference at No. 2 singles.
 
In addition, sophomore Michael Chan earned first team all-conference honors at No. 6 singles after earning a team-high 10 singles wins this season and picking up victories over Rice and SMU.
 
Although the Vaqueros fell to the Islanders in their first SLC semifinals, the program closed the season with consecutive second-place conference finishes and a foundation that positions it to contend for a SLC championship next season.
 
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