PHOENIX, Ariz. --- In the end, it was a tale of two tiebreakers, and both went Grand Canyon’s way for a 4-3 victory in the conference opener for UNM. The Lobos dropped to 5-10 overall and 0-1 in conference, while Grand Canyon improved to 16-2 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West.
The Lobos return home next weekend for College Tennis Weekend as UNM hosts Utah State on Friday, March 27, and Boise State on Sunday, March 29, both at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
The Lobos won the doubles point as UNM took two matches there. Alberto Perez and Jakub Prachar won 6-3 at No. 1, and Philip Bosin and Dario Ciobotaru won 6-4. That gave UNM the lead, but the match was decided at No. 4 singles.
Prachar won the opening set 7-5 over Daniel Jankoski, and then went to a tiebreaker in the second set. Up 3-2 in the tiebreaker, Jankoski hit a ball out, which was clear and obvious on later replays. However, Prachar was overruled, and that overrule was the third on the game, so instead of the tiebreaker being 4-2 UNM, it gave the tiebreaker to Grand Canyon, making it 7-6, and tying the match at a set apiece.
The third set was the only one left, and fittingly, it went to a tiebreaker again. Prachar went up 3-1, but that was as far as he got. He double-faulted, and that started Jankoski’s run of the final six points, the last on an ace, and GCU took the match 4-3 in well over four hours.
The Lobos did get singles wins from Perez, who won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3, and Tyler Waddock, who won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.