RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s tennis team is geared up for the first South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, of the 2024 season. 
 
UTRGV (2-4) and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (4-0) will play Sunday at 2 p.m., after the women’s teams face off, at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. Admission is free and the first 100 fans will receive free #BeatCorpus t-shirts. 
 
The Vaqueros have had a busy first two weeks of the season, defeating Lamar for the first time in four years and winning at St. Mary’s. UTRGV is battle-tested after facing (RV) Oklahoma State, UTSA and Omaha. All of the Islanders’ wins came against Prairie View A&M during home-and-home doubleheaders. 
 
UTRGV is 13-53-1 all-time against Corpus, with the last Vaqueros win in the series coming in 2010. Last season’s match in Edinburg saw the Vaqueros fall 2-4, but they did sweep doubles and get a win at No. 1 singles by Emilien Burnel. 
 
Though this year’s squad is fairly young, with three freshmen in the starting lineup, Burnel, the senior captain, said the Vaqueros have shown great dedication, work ethic and improvement. UTRGV is eager to take on its rival in the last home match before playing on the road for the next five weeks. 
 
“Everyone’s pretty excited for Sunday. It’s against Corpus, so everyone knows that we’re here to play. Everyone is motivated,” Burnel said. “We’ve been talking with the whole team about what we need to do to win. We’re talking about how the energy needs to be better, we need to be louder, don’t give up no matter the situation, support each other and push hard. It’s exciting to see how everyone is coming together as a team, and to see the commitment from everyone on the team.” 

Support UTRGV Men’s Tennis | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube