Women’s Tennis Downs No. 63 Grand Canyon

PHOENIX – Air Force Women's Tennis solidified its positioning near the top of the Mountain West standings, picking up a 4-2 win over No. 63 Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon in Phoenix.

Air Force (7-10) has now won three-straight matches on the road, six of its last seven contests and holds a 4-1 record in Mountain West play. The Falcons are currently tied for second with upcoming opponent San Diego State and trail one match behind both UNLV and Boise State for the lead (5-0).

For the eighth straight match and the Falcons' ninth in their last 10 contests, Air Force secured the doubles point. Sophomore Maya Michalski and freshman Jariahlyn Rhoades picked up a 6-1 over GCU's Amalia Siciu and Peyton Duckett. Their third-straight win elevated the duo to 7-1 in doubles play. A favorable result for GCU on line one (Gala Arangio/Bella Crossman def. Abby Cotuna/Sofia Mavor, 6-3) forced the decision onto court two, where Senior Arianna Van Houweling and sophomore Shivaani Selvan battled out a 7-3 tiebreaker to clinch a 1-0 Air Force lead.

Junior Nadia Kojonroj was first to pick up a singles win, defeating Dania Deaifi, 6-2, 6-1. Deaifi had won four of her last five completed matches, all in straight sets. With the win, Kojonroj secured her fourth-consecutive dual singles victory.

GCU got on the board with a win on court four (Gala Arangio def. Mavor, 6-1, 6-2). Falcon freshman Yule Kang was quickly able to replace the point, scoring a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Hams Metwally to threaten an Air Force clinch. Kang's win snapped a three-match skid, while handing Metwally just her second loss in nine matches.

Grand Canyon's Karina Hofbauer picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win over Van Houweling on court two to bring the Lopes into a one-point match at 3-2. After split 7-5 sets for Rhoades on line six against GCU's Duckett, Cotuna was able to power back from a late deficit in her third set against sophomore Isabella Crossman to take a 7-3 tiebreaker and secure an Air Force victory. After the clinch, Rhoades and Duckett's match was called off at 2-all in their third set.

Head Coach Taylor Hollander on the day's result:
"It was a battle from start to finish today. This team faced adversity at every turn but stayed composed and kept moving forward. In tennis, you don't get to dwell - you reset, refocus, and play the next point. I'm very proud of the grit and resilience shown by those of us who dug deep."

Up Next:
The Falcons close out their four-match road stretch in San Diego, facing the No. 42 Aztecs at 11:30 a.m. MT. Air Force Women's Tennis makes its return to the Academy next week, hosting Wyoming and CSU on Thursday, Apr. 2 (10 a.m. MT) and Saturday, Apr. 4 (11 a.m. MT).

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Abby Cotuna

Yule Kang

Nadia Kojonroj

Sofia Mavor

Maya Michalski

Jariahlyn Rhoades

Shivaani Selvan

Arianna Van Houweling

Footer