GCU's winning streak snapped by Utah State

Saturday, February 11

Tucson, AZ

1:30 PM

Grand Canyon

Utah State

2/11/2017 6:56:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Samantha Fell

TUCSON, Ariz. – The GCU men's tennis team had their five game winning streak snapped by the Utah State Aggies on Saturday afternoon. Despite earning three victories in singles play, Utah State won two of three matches in doubles to earn the team point and take the overall contest by a score of 4-3. Grand Canyon's record falls to 5-3 for the season.

"I'm not happy or comfortable with losing, but with the narrow defeat today, I got to see how much heart and character our tennis team has," head coach Greg Prudhomme noted. "The guys fought super hard and we're playing a team that won their conference the last two years. They got us with the narrowest of margins."

Three Lopes earned singles victories to aid the GCU cause. Francois Musitelli edged out a gutsy three set win over Wehnelt of Utah State by scores of 6-4, 3-6, and 6-4 at No. 1 singles. In the second position, Mathieu Rajaonah also outlasted Swindells from the Aggies in three sets. He emerged with the win by scores of 7-5, 2-6, and 6-2. Freshman Lorenzo Fucile was the only Lope to win in straight sets. He defeated Baehr of Utah State 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4.

"We had everybody fighting down the lineup, the top, middle, and bottom," Prudhomme added. "It is definitely bittersweet. I feel bad for the guys that we couldn't cross that finish line, but it definitely was a huge climb for the direction we are going with the program. We're resting up tonight and we've got another big one tomorrow against U of A."

GCU will return to action tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 12. The Lopes play in-state rival Arizona at 3 p.m. in Tucson, Ariz.

Results

Singles
No. 1: Musitelli (GCU) def. Wehnelt (UST) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
No. 2: Rajaonah (GCU) def. Swindells (UST) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
No. 3: Barajas (UST) def. Legarreta (GCU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4: Fucile (GCU) def. Baehr (UST) 7-5, 6-4
No. 5: Serreno (UST) def. Cvitanovic (GCU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 6: Maier (UST) def. Balenci (GCU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1: Wehnelt/Serreno (UST) def. Legarreta/Kuehnen (GCU) 6-4
No. 2: Swindells/Maier (UST) def. Rajaonah/Balenci (GCU) 6-3
No. 3: Fucile/Lang (GCU) vs. Nukajima/Barajas (UST) 4-5, DNF