GCU opens WAC play with victory

Thursday, March 28

Edinburg, Texas

9 a.m.

Grand Canyon

UT Rio Grande Valley

3/28/2024 5:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Lopes sprint to 4-0 lead at UTRGV; match finishes 5-2

By: Josh Hauser

EDINBURG, Texas — Grand Canyon opened conference play with a 5-2 win at UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday morning.

The Lopes (6-11, 1-0 WAC) are on a three-match win streak for the first time under second-year head coach Derek Siddiqui, opening conference play on the right foot at UTRGV (8-13, 0-1 WAC).

For the fourth straight match, GCU claimed the doubles point. The Lopes won on the second and third courts in doubles to grab a 1-0 lead in the match.

GCU left no doubt in grabbing the first three singles wins to jump out to a 4-0 lead and clinch the match win.

Sophomore David Wekesa was the first to win a singles match, improving to a team-leading 9-4 record and winning his fifth straight match on Court 3. Wekesa won 6-0 in the first set before having to go to a tiebreaker to win 7-6 in the second set.

Sophomore Alfred Almasi and graduate Pablo Carretero Salvador logged wins on Courts 4 and 2, respectively, to clinch the match for GCU. Like Wekesa, Almasi also needed a tiebreaker to win in the second set to put the Lopes in front 3-0 for the match. Carretero Salvador was the Lopes' match clincher with his 7-5, 6-4 win.

With the match won, junior Jonathan Da Silva won a three-set match on Court 5 before the Vaqueros ended the day with three-set wins on Courts 1 and 6.

GCU started WAC play 1-0 for the first time since 2021.

The Lopes will look to extend their three-match winning streak at UT Arlington on Saturday in a match that gets underway at 9 a.m. (Phoenix time).