SACRAMENTO, Calif. --- Freshmen Mark Keki and Rudolfs Aksenoks each recorded singles victories to lead Sacramento State in a 4-2 loss to Grand Canyon on Saturday at the Campus Tennis Courts. The loss dropped the Hornets to 1-3 on the year while the Lopes improved to 1-7.
GCU jumped ahead early by capturing the doubles points with a pair of wins. Justin Cvitanovic and Mariano Argote combined for a 6-1 win at No. 2 over Hermont Legaspi and Michael Vizcarra. The deciding point came at No. 3 where Jan Silva and Aksenoks fell to Freddie Grant and Loic Van Zeggelaar, 6-3. The No. 1 doubles match was halted with Grand Canyon leading, 5-4.
The Hornets evened the match at 1-1 with a quick win from Aksenoks at No. 5. The freshman knocked off Wolman Boris-Moller, 6-1, 6-3. After the Lopes pulled back ahead with a 6-3, 6-4 win from Jiri Novak at No. 4, Sacramento State responded with a win from Keki to knot the match at 2-2. Keki outlasted Cvitanovic, 7-5, 6-2, at No. 2.
From there, Grand Canyon sealed the match with a pair of close wins at No. 3 and No. 1, respectively. Mariano Argote battle Liam Liles at No. 2 before prevailing, 7-6, 6-3. The clinching point came from Valentin Lang who defeated Hermont Legaspi, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1.
Sacramento State will continue its 12-match homestand at the start of the year when it welcomes Santa Clara on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m.
Grand Canyon 4, Sacramento State 2
Singles competition
1. Lang, Valentin (GCU) def. Legaspi, Hermont (SAC) 6-3, 6-4
2. Keki, Mark (SAC) def. Cvitanovic, Justin (GCU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Argote, Mariano (GCU) def. Liles, Liam (SAC) 7-6 (10-4), 6-3
4. Novak, Jiri (GCU) def. Vizcarra, Michael (SAC) 6-3, 6-4
5. Aksenoks, Rudolfs (SAC) def. Boris-Moller, Wolmar (GCU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Silva, Jan (SAC) vs. Da Silva, Jonathan (GCU) 2-6, 6-4, 2-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Keki, Mark/Liles, Liam (SAC) vs. Lang, Valentin/Novak, Jiri (GCU) 4-5, unfinished
2. Cvitanovic, Justin/Argote, Mariano (GCU) def. Legaspi, Hermont/Vizcarra, Michael (SAC) 6-1
3. Grant, Freddie/Van Zeggelaar, Loic (GCU) def. Silva, Jan/Aksenoks, Rudolfs (SAC) 6-3
