HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team wrapped up competition at the Rice Invite Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
 
Sophomore Mariangel Estrella highlighted the weekend by winning the west draw in Flight 1, earning back-to-back victories over power-conference opponents Houston and Baylor.
 
In addition, every Vaquero in the tournament either earned a singles win or advanced in their draw. Meanwhile, all three doubles teams also earned wins in the tournament.
 
UTRGV faced a tough field consisting of Rice, Baylor, Houston (UH), Louisiana Tech (La Tech), Northwestern State (NWST), Sam Houston (SHSU), SMU, Tulane, and UTSA.
 
Singles Play
 
Estrella picked up her first power-conference victory after defeating UH's Alice Stevens in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 in the West Semifinals. Estrella followed the victory by coming back to defeat Baylor's Luna Ivkovic, in the West Final. Estrella dropped the first set 6-4 before bouncing back to take the second set, 6-1. The deciding set mirrored the first; however, this time, Estrella came through for the 7-5 win.
 
Junior Rhea Makesar was one of three Vaqueros to earn a win in the quarterfinal round of their respective brackets. Makesar was dominant, downing the reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, NWST's Martina Acebedo, 6-0, 6-1 in Flight 3.
 
Seniors Madeleine Joffe and Hitakamya Narwal also earned opening-round wins in Flights 6 and 7, respectively. Joffe dropped the first set to Louisiana Tech's Alexandra Patton 6-7 (7:5) but led 4-3 in the second before Patton retired. Meanwhile, Narwal downed NWST's Zula Vnuk in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
 
Freshman Mirka Delaney advanced to the West Final of Flight 2 to face UTSA's Celine Absawi and found herself down early after dropping the first set 6-0. Delaney responded with a dominant 6-1 second-set victory before Absawi edged Delaney in a tightly contested third set, 7-6 (7:5).
 
In Flight 8, junior Juana Gomez Weiss picked up a 6-2, 6-3 win over SHSU's Emma Nordin.
 
Doubles Play
 
Estrella and Makesar were the lone UTRGV doubles team to earn a quarterfinal victory, defeating Northwestern State's 2026 All-SLC First Team No. 3 doubles team of Acebedo and Athina Grigoriadou, 6-3.
 
Meanwhile, in the West Semifinals of Flight 2, the duo of Gomez Weiss and Narwal defeated UTSA's Celine Absawi/Aoka Nagasawa 6-4 before winning the west draw due to a walkover in the finals.
 
Finally, in Flight 3, freshman Mirka Delaney and Joffe picked up their first win as a duo, defeating Northwestern State's Nico Tagami and Vnuk 6-3 in the west semifinals.
 
The Vaqueros will have a chance to test their mettle against some of the best tennis players in the country at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Texas Regional, which will run from Oct. 8-12 in Fort Worth.
 
Tournament Results
Singles
Flight 1
Quarterfinals: Summer Chandler (Tulane) def. Mariangel Estrella (UTRGV), 7-5, 6-4
West Semifinals: Mariangel Estrella (UTRGV) def. Alice Stevens (UH), 6-3, 6-4
West Finals: Mariangel Estrella (UTRGV) def. Luna Ivkovic (Baylor), 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
 
Flight 2
Quarterfinals: Carrington Brown (SMU) def. Mirka Delaney (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-4
West Semifinals: Mirka Delaney (UTRGV) def. Athina Grigoriadou (NWST), Walkover
West Finals: Celine Absawi (UTSA) def. Mirka Delaney (UTRGV), 6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (7:5)
 
Flight 3
Quarterfinals: Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) def. Martina Acebedo (NWST), 6-0, 6-1
East Semifinals: Addison Comiskey (SMU) def. Rhea Makesar (UTRGV), 6-0, 6-2
3-4 Playoff: Whitley Pate (Tulane) def. Rhea Makesar (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-2
 
Flight 5
Quarterfinals: Natalia Fantini (Tulane) def. Luna Buijtenhuijs (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-4
West Semifinals: Luna Buijtenhuijs (UTRGV) def. Gabrielle Villegas (Baylor), Walkover
West Finals: Natalia Trigossa (La Tech) def. Luna Buijtenhuijs (UTRGV), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
 
Flight 6
Quarterfinals: Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV) def. Alexandra Patton (La Tech), 6-7 (7:5), 4-3 ret.
East Semifinals: Aoka Nagasawa (UTSA) def. Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV), 6-4, 6-1
3-4 Playoff: Daniela Chica (Rice) def. Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-2
 
Flight 7
Quarterfinals: Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) def. Zula Vnuk (NWST), 6-4, 6-3
East Semifinals: Veronika Muzichenko (SHSU) def. Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV), Walkover
 
Flight 8
Round 1: Gabriela Felix da Silva (UTSA) def. Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Round 2: Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV) def. Emma Nordin (SHSU), 6-2, 6-3
 
Extra Matches
Nina Skoric (La Tech) def. Juana Gomez Weiss (UTRGV), 7-5, 6-1
 
Doubles
Flight 1
Quarterfinals: Mariangel Estrella/Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) def. Martina Acebedo/Athina Grigoriadou (NWST), 6-3
East Semifinals: Summer Chandler/Whitley Pate (Tulane) def. Mariangel Estrella/Rhea Makesar (UTRGV), 6-4
3-4 Playoff: Addison Comiskey/Elena Mireles (SMU) def. Mariangel Estrella/Rhea Makesar (UTRGV), 7-5
 
Flight 2
Quarterfinals: Natalia Perez/Campbell Ricci (Tulane) def. Juana Gomez Weiss/Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV), 6-3
West Semifinals: Juana Gomez Weiss/Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) def. Celine Absawi/Aoka Nagasawa (UTSA), 6-4
West Finals: Juana Gomez Weiss/Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) def. Veronika Muzichenko/Ivona Savekova (SHSU), Walkover
 
Flight 3
Quarterfinals: Vladislav Razina/Alice Stevens (UH) def. Mirka Delaney/Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV), 6-3
West Semifinals: Mirka Delaney/Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV) def. Nico Tagami/Zala Vnuk (NWST), 6-3
West Finals: Carolina Correia/Manal Ennaciri (La Tech) def. Mirka Delaney/Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV), 6-3

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