GCU falls in home opener 4-3

Sunday, January 15

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UC San Diego

1/15/2023 6:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

Lopes battle Tritons in 4-hour marathon match

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon women's tennis team lost a close 4-3 match to UC San Diego in its Sunday home opener.

The Lopes (0-2) came back from an early deficit after dropping the doubles point to tie it at 3-3 but came up just short in the final singles match of the day.

In doubles, UCSD (1-1) took the point with wins on the bottom two courts. GCU sophomore Valentina Del Marco and freshman Dania Deaifi lost 6-0 at Court 3 while Lopes graduate Madeline Lamoreaux and freshman Hebe Toyos fell in a 6-4 match at Court 2.

At the top doubles position, GCU senior Natasha Puehse's and sophomore Santa Strombacha's match was left unfinished at 4-4.

"Our performance in doubles was just not what we are about," head coach Kat Adamovic said. "After that they turned it around in singles, but I think they responded well after having a slow start."

In singles, the Lopes regrouped and were able to take the lead quickly. Strombacha, at No. 2, put in a dominant performance with a 6-2, 6-1 win over UCSD's Ella Pachl. Meanwhile, Lamoreaux picked up her first singles win in a GCU uniform at Court 4, winning 6-1, 6-2 to put the Lopes up 2-1.

That lead grew with a win by Puehse at the top singles position. The reigning WAC Player of the Year dropped her first set 7-5 but settled in and dominated the next two sets, 6-1, 6-0.

The Lopes were on the brink of closing out the match, leading 3-1 with three matches in play but the Tritons countered with a three-set win over Deaifi at Court 3 and a straight-set win over Toyos at Court 5.

With the match tied at 3-3, it came down to Del Marco at Court 6 and the GCU sophomore from Massa, Itally, rallied from a 4-3 deficit by saving a match point at 5-4 and winning 7-5 to even her match.

In the third and final set, Del Marco continued to grind over two hours into her match, tying the set at 3-3 before UCSD's Katelyn Vu snuck out the 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win.

"For Val this is what college tennis is about," Adamovic said. "You want to be in these matches and it didn't go out way. But I think on five of the six courts we did really well today in singles."

The Lopes will be back in action next weekend when they hit the road for matches in Tucson against Cal Poly and Arizona on Saturday and Sunday.