LAS VEGAS — The Grand Canyon women’s tennis team slipped into a three-way Mountain West tie for fifth place after road losses at Nevada and conference co-leader UNLV this weekend.
The Lopes (11-10, 4-4 Mountain West) started strongly Saturday at UNLV with a Court 1 victory from sophomore Bella Crossman and junior Gala Arangio, whose 6-2 victory improved their record to 4-2 as a pair. But the Rebels (14-3, 7-1) rallied for the doubles point by taking a pair of tight 6-4 matches on Courts 2 and 3.
UNLV kept the momentum into singles play, where Rebels star Veronika Kliuch defeated Crossman 6-1, 6-0, to improved to 23-2 on the season. Court 6 wrapped up quickly with a 6-1, 6-1 win for the Rebels’ Sofia Sokolvak that marked GCU sophomore Peyton Duckett’s first loss since March 15.
Senior Dania Deaifi kept GCU alive on Court 4, where she defeated Eszter Kis-Czako 6-3, 6-2 to cut the Rebels’ lead to 3-1. But UNLV’s dual match home victory was closed out on Court 3, where Arangio fell 6-3, 6-4 to Hudson Hawkins just as GCU sophomore Karina Hofbauer was leading her match and Lopes freshman Amália Suciu was game away from a Court 5 victory with a 6-3, 5-2 lead.
The Lopes have three conference dual matches remaining before returning to Las Vegas for Mountain West Championships on April 22-25. GCU will have its home finale at 10 a.m. Friday against Colorado State at GCU Tennis Facility.