Lopes down New Mexico State 5-2

Sunday, March 28

Phoenix, Ariz.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

3/28/2021 2:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

2-0 WAC start puts Lopes in a 1st-place tie

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team wrapped up the opening weekend of WAC play with a 5-2 win against New Mexico State on Sunday at the GCU Tennis Facility.

It was the perfect start for the Lopes (3-12, 2-0 WAC) in conference play with them now tied for first after the opening weekend. With one less WAC opponent this season, the Lopes have set themselves up to finish strong in the final two conference matches in two weeks.

GCU took the doubles point over New Mexico State (3-10, 1-1 WAC) with wins on all three courts. Senior Valentin Lang and freshman Jiri Novak won 6-3 to kick off the match while sophomore Mariano Argote and senior Justin Cvitanovic won 6-3 at No. 2 to clinch the point. Senior Freddie Grant and freshman Loic Van Zeggelaar finished the sweep with a 6-4 win at No. 3.

The Lopes' three doubles pairs have combined to win their last 12 matches with Lang and Novak leading the way at 7-4 this season.

In singles, the Lopes and Aggies were locked in close first sets all the way down the lineup. Freshman Jonathan Da Silva had the biggest turnaround of the day at No. 4. Falling behind 4-1in the first set, Da Silva won 11 of the next 12 games games to take the first set 6-4 and won the second set 6-1 to take the match.

The Lopes also grabbed close first sets on four courts at either 6-4 or 7-5 score lines.

After taking his first set 6-4, Grant did the same as Da Silva and dominated his second set 6-1 to put the Lopes on the brink of a victory at 3-0.

It would poetically be Lang at No. 1 that would clinch it. After winning a 6-4 first set, the senior captain fell behind 2-1 in the second set but won five of the final six games to clinch the team win with a 6-3 second-set victory. Lang collapsed on the court as he celebrated his match-winning ace in front of the home fans.

After the team win was clinched at 4-0, Cvitanovic won his match at No. 3 in a 10-point tiebreaker in the third set. New Mexico State picked up two wins on 10-point tiebreakers at Courts 2 and 5 to wrap up the match.

The Lopes will enjoy next week off and prepare for the final WAC pod of the season in Edinburg, Texas. The Lopes will face Seattle U and UT Rio Grande Valley on April 10-11.