GCU defeats Saint Mary's in comeback

Sunday, January 24

Moraga, Calif.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Saint Mary's (Calif.)

1/24/2016 9:58:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Steven Gonzalez

MORAGA, Calif. – After the Grand Canyon men's tennis team had Saturday's match against Santa Clara postponed due to weather conditions, GCU closed out the weekend in California against Saint Mary's. The Lopes were able to defeat the Gaels 5-2 for the team's first winning streak of the season.

"This ranks as one of the best wins in our short Division I history at GCU," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "Any time you can knock off an opponent from the West Coast Conference is big because they have a history of developing great teams. The guys brought the energy all day and what made it even better is that we had to come from behind."

The Lopes were close in all three matches during doubles play but the Lopes fell in courts one and three in tiebreakers. GCU won the first match of the day during doubles as Mitch Maroscher and Adrian Legarreta defeated Daniel Krutik and Manuel De Luis Lamelas 6-3 for the lone win in doubles.

GCU quickly turned the momentum around heading into singles play and it started with Legarreta on court five against Saint Mary's Krutik. Legarreta went 2-0 on the day after defeating Krutik 6-2, 6-1 to tie the match. Mathieu Rajaonah gave GCU the lead with the 6-0, 6-3 victory on court six to remain a perfect 3-0 this season in singles. GCU extended its lead to 3-1 after Meidy Chazeau defeated Lamelas 6-3, 6-4 and applied all the pressure to Saint Mary's side.

"We didn't let doubles phase use," Prudhomme said. "We fought back and had great starts in our singles matches. Today showed how much depth we have in our lineup and today is a testament of how much better our team has become this year."

Saint Mary's would inch closer to GCU's lead after a victory on court three to make it 3-2 but in the final two matches GCU would step up to come away with the victory. Clinching the match for the Lopes was the Lopes' top player, Maroscher, on the No. 1 court. Maroscher defeated Thomas Hunt in three sets to seal the victory for the Lopes.

To close out the match, Felix Schueller would take down Nash Vollenweider 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 for GCU's fifth victory of the day. GCU will head back out on the road next Saturday, Jan. 30, to take on Idaho State.

Results
Doubles

Thomas Hunt/James Markiewicz (SMC) def. Felix Schueller/Alexander Roggenkamp (GCU) 7-6 (1)
Mitch Maroscher/Adrian Legarreta (GCU) def. Daniel Krutik/Manuel De Luis Lamelas (SMC) 6-3
Jacob Lagman/Nash Vollenweider (SMC) def. Meidy Chazeau/Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) 7-6 (6)

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles