Record-breaking season comes to end in Las Vegas

Wednesday, April 22

Las Vegas, Nev.

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

(5) UNLV

Photo by: NCAA

4/23/2026 12:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Lopes fall to host UNLV in Mountain West Championship

By: Tyler Killgore

LAS VEGAS — No. 5 seed Grand Canyon saw its postseason end Wednesday evening with a 4-1 loss to No. 4 seed UNLV in the Mountain West Championship quarterfinals at Darling Tennis Center.

UNLV, the tournament host, seized early momentum by claiming the doubles point with wins on Courts 2 and 3, while the top court with GCU sophomore duo Tristan Berard and Andreas Loizas went unfinished.

The Rebels carried that advantage into singles play, taking the first completed Court 5 singles to build a 2-0 lead.

UNLV kept that momentum with a tight win on Court 1 over Berard, who was down 4-1 in the second set before making a late push to lead 5-4. Ilia Snitari, the Rebels' Mountain West Player of the Year, bounced back to take the 6-2, 7-5 win.

The Lopes answered at Court 4 singles, where sophomore Daniel Jankoski delivered a 6-3, 7-5 victory to put the Lopes on the board for a 3-1 deficit.

Loizas gave the Lopes the spark they needed, coming back from 5-4 in for a 7-5 win in the second set on Court 3 to keep hope alive.

GCU sophomore Diordan Macababbad had an incredible comeback in the second set on Court 2 after being down 5-4. eventually pushing to a tiebreaker.

Despite the effort, Macababbad just fell short, losing in two straight tiebreakers — 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3). With UNLV picking up the win, it clinched the match and ended the Lopes season.

Two additional courts were left unfinished once the match was decided, including Loizas' three-set battle on Court 3 and a tight third set at Court 6 for junior Brice Patoux.

The Lopes conclude the season at 18-6, one of their best seasons. With new head coach Ross Wilson at the helm, GCU was led to its best start in program history when it opened the season at 12-1.

The team set Division I-era high marks, including junior Charlie Pade finishing in the top two for singles win percentage, the second-highest team singles win percentage for a season, the third-most singles wins in a season and the second-most dual match wins in a season.