Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) learned on Tuesday that seniors Carlo Izurieta and Alberto Mello swept the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Athletes of the Week awards.
Izurieta was named the WAC Singles Player of the Week after capturing his third singles win in a row at No. 2 in UTRGV’s 6-1 victory over Prairie View A&M in the regular season finale. He defeated Diego Hatem Arias 6-2, 6-2.
Mello and Izurieta were recognized as the WAC Doubles Team of the Week for picking up a 6-2 win over PVAMU’s team of Jaydn Boone and Adrien Blackwell in the No. 2 doubles flight. The senior duo helped the Vaqueros secure a doubles sweep over the Panthers.
This is the first WAC Singles Player of the Week award for Izurieta and the second WAC Doubles Team of the Week award for both Izurieta and Mello. Izurieta was named UTRGV’s Massage Envy Student-Athlete of the Week last week after posting a 2-1 singles record and earning a win over No. 24 Texas A&M’s Mathis Bondaz – the first singles victory over a Power Five opponent for the Vaqueros since 2017.
This is the second time this season UTRGV’s men’s tennis team sweeps the TicketSmarter WAC awards. In March, juniors Misha Kvantaliani and George Hutchings claimed the doubles prize while Kvantaliani was also named the Singles Player of the Week.
UTRGV opens the WAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed against No. 4 Grand Canyon on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center.
