LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Less than 24 hours after winning their first Western Athletic Conference match in program history, the Lamar University men's tennis team was back on the court looking to make it two wins in a row. The Cardinals squared off against Grand Canyon Saturday afternoon in Las Cruces, N.M. and picked up a thrilling, 4-3, victory to improve to 10-6 (.625) on the season and 2-0 in WAC matches.
 
The Cardinals jumped on the board first by picking up key victories on courts 2 and 3 doubles – with the decisive match coming at No. 3 where the duo of Martin Garcia-Ripoll and Joshua Taylor picked off GCU's Grzegorz Rudnicki and Wyatt Anderson in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-2).
 
Sophomore Brandon Do gave the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage when he ousted the 'Lopes' Adrien Coulome in straight set, 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 6 position. After building the two-point lead, the match tightened up.
 
Grand Canyon responded with victories on courts 2 and 3 (No. 3 singles went to a third set), to tie the overall match at 2-2. Garcia-Ripoll responded for the Cardinals by defeating GCU's Loic Van Zeegelaar, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 4 singles to put LU just one point away from the win with two matches remaining.
 
The final two courts – No. 1 and 5 singles – both went to a third set with the Cardinals picking up the victory in the second set to force a third. Freshman Daniel Sancho Arbizu came up with the big win as he defeated Argote Mariano, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to give LU the overall victory (GCU took the final match, but the team victory had already been decided).
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Friday when they return home to host UT Rio Grande Valley. The match against the Vaqueros will begin at 11 a.m.