TUCSON, Ariz. –The Arizona men's tennis team finished their impressive, rain delayed comeback against Grand Canyon University today by winning 4-3 and is now 5-2 on the season. The Wildcats were down 3-1 and had just began to gain momentum on Sunday when rain caused the match to be paused and later rescheduled for 2 p.m. MST the following day.
 
"Hats off to Grand Canyon," said head coach Clancy Shields. "They have a great coach, their team is really good and I think that they came really fired-up and ready to beat us. In a lot of ways, they were winning 95% of the match, but somehow we stuck around, kept fighting, and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end. I'm pretty tough on our guys, but I'll take my hat off to them for staying around and fighting to the end. We are going to learn a lot from this match and learn to start a little quicker in the future, but it was a great collegiate match. It's never easy going two days in a row."
 
Junior Trent Botha, who ended Sunday tied 2-2 in set three against GCU freshman Lorenzo Fucile, kept Arizona alive and brought the score to 2-3 with his 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory on court four.
 
Will Kneale was up 3-1 in his third set against sophomore Mathieu Rajaonah on court two when weather delayed his match, but the senior kept his momentum rolling into the following day and tied the score at 3-3 with his 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.
 
Junior Shoki Kasahara dropped his first set against sophomore Justin Cvitanovic in a tie-breaker, but was leading his second set 5-2 when rain postponed the match. With the entirety of his team watching him, Kasahara closed out his second set, and won his third (6-2), giving Arizona the match.
 
The Wildcats will have less than a week to prepare for their next match, a home contest against Northern Arizona University on Saturday, February 18 at 2 p.m. MST.
 
Grand Canyon University
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, 6-4
Lagerreta  (GCU)  def. Reguant (UA) 6-2, 6-1      
Botha (UA) def. Fucile (GCU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Kasahara (UA) vs. Cvitanovic (GCU) 6-7, 6-2
Lang (GCU) def. Plaskett (UA) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
 
FOLLOW MEN'S TENNIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona women's basketball by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaMensTennis), Twitter (@ArizonaMTennis) and Instagram (@arizonatennis).