Tucson, Ariz.- The Arizona men's tennis team played in their second home double-header of the season today, and beat Marquette (9 a.m.) by a score of 4-1 before being rained out of their second match against Grand Canyon University. The Wildcats were trailing the Antelopes 3-1 when the inclement weather began, and the two teams will conclude play tomorrow at 2 p.m. MST.

Ariz. vs Marquette
Arizona surrendered the doubles point following senior Will Kneale and junior Shoti Meparidze's 6-2 loss to Marquette senior Nick Dykema and sophomore Alvaro Verdu on court one, and junior Trent Botha and Senior Oliver Plaskett's 6-1 loss to seniors Mackenzie Stearns and Kristiyan Trukov on court two.

Meparidze was the first Wildcat to finish singles play. He took down Verdu in a back and forth match on court one to tie things up. Freshman Alejandro Reguant was solid, taking down Marquette sophomore Greg Anderson on court three by a score of 6-4, 7-5 to give Arizona the lead, and Plaskett brought Arizona within one point of victory with a three set win on court six over Stearns (2-6, 6-3, 6-0). Junior Shoki Kasahara took the fourth and crucial point in an intense three set match against Trukov on court five (2-6, 6-2, 6-3).

After their match with Marquette, Arizona had only a few hours to rest and prepare for Grand Canyon University.
 
Ariz. vs GCU
The Wildcats had a slow start against GCU and couldn't secure the doubles point. Meparidze and Kneale fell to GCU senior Adrian Legarreta and junior Philip Kuehnen by a score of 6-2 on court one not long before Reguant and Kasahara dropped their doubles match against freshmen Valentin Lang and Lorenzo Fucile (6-2).

GCU increased their lead to 2-0 with Lagarreta's 6-2, 6-1 win over Reguant on court three. Meparidze lost his first set to GCU freshman Francois Musitellis, but he flipped the switch and won the next two sets (2-6, 6-2, 6-2). Meparidze's win brings his singles record to 6-1 on court one, and brought Arizona within one point of GCU.

GCU once again extended their lead with Lang's three set win over Plaskett on court six (6-3, 1-6, 6-2) meaning that Kneale, Botha, and Kasahara would have to come through to give Arizona the win.

 Kneale lost his first set to GCU sophomore Mathieu Rajaonah on court two, but took set two and a 3-1 lead in the third set. Botha dropped his first set to Fucile on court four and promptly took a 1-4 disadvantage in set two, but battled back to force a third set. Kasahara lost a tiebreaker in his first set, but didn't dwell on it and took a 5-2 lead in set two.

As Arizona fans became continuously more optimistic, the weather continued to worsen, and just as the Wildcats seemed to be gaining some momentum, the match had to be halted and later postponed due to lightning.

Arizona head coach Clancy Shields and GCU head coach Gregory Prudhomme were fortunately able to work out a time to pick up play, and subsequently the match is rescheduled for tomorrow (Monday Feb. 12th) at 2 p.m.  The teams will resume with the same score meaning that this is still a must win situation for Kneale, Kasahara, and Botha.

Admission into LaNelle Robson is always free, but if you can't make it, live stats are available HERE.
 
 
Vs. Marquette
Doubles
Verdu/Dykema (MU) def. Meparidze/Kneale (UA) 6-2
Stearns/Trukov (MU) def. Botha/Plaskett (UA) 6-1
Anderson/Smrek (MU) vs Kasahara/Reguant (UA) 5-4 UF
Singles
Meparidze (UA) def. Verdu (MU) 6-4, 7-5
Kneale (UA) def. Smrek (MU) 2-6, 7-5, 3-2 UF
Reguant (UA) def. Anderson (MU) 6-4, 7-5
Botha (UA) vs. Dykema (MU) 6-3, 4-6, UF
Kasahara (UA) def. Trukov (MU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Plaskett (UA) def.  Stearns  (MU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
 
Grand Canyon University (incomplete)
Doubles
Kuehnen/Legarreta (GCU) def. Meparidze/Kneale (UA) 6-2
Botha/Plaskett (UA) vs. Rajaonah/Balenci (GCU) 4-3 UF
Fucile/Lang (GCU) def. Reguant/Kasahara (UA) 6-2
 
Singles
Meparidze (UA) def. Musitelli (GCU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Kneale (UA) vs. Rajanoah (GCU) 4-6, 6-2, 3-1 to be continued….
Lagerreta  (GCU)  def. Reguant (UA) 6-2, 6-1                                                                                           
Botha (UA) def. Fucile (GCU) 3-6, 7-5, 2-2 to be continued…
Kasahara (UA) vs. Cvitanovic (GCU) 6-7, 5-2 to be continued…
Lang (GCU) def. Plaskett (UA) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

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