Men’s Tennis Excited for Trio of Matches in Maryland

EMMITSBURG, Md. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis program will play three matches in their trip to Maryland this weekend, which will include road contests at George Mason (GMU), Mount St. Mary's (Mount), and Morgan State (MSU).

Last Time Out

UTRGV snapped their losing streak last weekend, picking two road wins against Jackson State (JSU) and Alcorn State (ASU).

The Vaqueros rolled in their first match, taking the doubles point with 6-2 wins on courts one and three.

In singles play, graduate student Sam Whitehead, junior Santiago Serrano, and sophomore Loic Young Kriegel earned wins on courts one, two, and four, respectively to clinch the match.

Whitehead picked up his second straight win on court one, defeating Feder Pickenstainer 6-2, 6-4. Meanwhile, Young wrapped up a successful February with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jhoan Vaquero. Young went 4-2 in the month of February with wins in matches against New Mexico State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Idaho.

The next day, UTRGV dominated in a 4-0 sweep against Alcorn State. In that match, the Vaqueros once again earned the doubles point with wins on courts one and three.

UTRGV showcased stellar doubles play as the duos of junior Will Roberts and Whitehead and junior Paolo Bonaguro and sophomore Tsz Him Chan went 2-0 on courts one and three, respectively, last weekend.

The momentum carried into singles play for UTRGV as Bonaguro dominated Jeremiah Jones 6-0, 6-1 on court six to earn the second point. On court four, Roberts dispatched Tomas Grime 6-2, 6-0 to claim the third point for UTRGV.

Junior Ivo Isqueiro clinched the match for the Vaqueros on court three with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Matthew Holl.

Mount St. Mary's – March 7, 11 a.m. – Mount St. Mary's Tennis Courts – Emmitsburg, Md.

UTRGV will open their Maryland trip with a road match against the Mount St. Mary's (Mount) Saturday at 11 a.m. This will be the first-ever meeting between these two programs.

The Mount, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, is 2-4 on the season but comes off of back-to-back wins to open their conference season. Mount traveled to Sacred Heart and earned a thrilling 4-3 win before defeating Merrimack 4-1 on the road.

In doubles, Mount is led by the duo of Nikos Makris and Stefanos Pournaropolous, who have amassed a 3-4 record on the year. In singles play, Pournaropolous and Ryan Wagner have collected a team-high three wins on courts three and four, respectively.

Meanwhile, UTRGV has a stellar 8-5 record at number three doubles, currently spearheaded by the duo of Bonaguro and Chan who have won three consecutive matches.

In singles, the Vaqueros are led by Chan who has a team-high six wins with all his matches played on court six.

George Mason – March 9, 9 a.m. – University Tennis Complex – Fairfax, Va.

UTRGV will visit George Mason on Monday in its first of two matchups on the day. This will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs.

George Mason, a member of the Atlantic 10 conference, is 5-1 this spring with wins over four NCAA DI programs, including, Hofstra, Howard, Navy, and Villanova. The Patriot's lone loss this season was a 4-0 sweep to Delaware.

Four Patriots have earned a team-high five singles wins this season. In addition, the Patriots have winning records on every singles court except court three, where they are 3-3 on the season.

In doubles, the Patriots are strongest on court two, where they have amassed a 4-2 record, and court three, where they have a 3-2 record.

Morgan State – March 9, 3 p.m. – Lake Clifton Park Tennis Courts – Baltimore, Md.

UTRGV will close out their trip with a road match at Morgan State (MSU) Monday at 3 p.m. UTRGV heads to MSU after the Bears visited the Valley in 2024, a 7-0 win for the Vaqueros.

MSU, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, is 1-4 this spring. Their lone win is against Navy, a 4-3 thriller. This was the Bears first-ever win over Navy, after dropping the previous 12 matches.

The Bears have dropped matches to Drexel, Monmouth, Old Dominion, and Temple this season, and will face Mount St. Mary's and Frostburg State on Saturday.

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