Air Force men’s tennis earned a close 4-3 victory against No. 61 Grand Canyon University on March 25 at the GCU Tennis Facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The Falcons improved to a record of 6-8 and secured their second win this season over a ranked opponent.
The match was decided in the final singles contests after Air Force trailed at several points. The Falcons first won the doubles point, with Alec Fritzinger and Matthew Staton taking No. 3 doubles, followed by Caden Lee and Langdon Tingleaf clinching the point at No. 2.
In singles play, Grand Canyon took early wins at positions five and three to lead, but Tyler Leaird tied the match for Air Force with a straight sets victory at No. 6 singles. After GCU regained the lead by winning at No. 4 singles, Jack Brown leveled it again for Air Force with a come-from-behind win in three sets at No. 2.
The deciding match came down to Phillip Deaton, who outlasted Tristan Berand in three tiebreak sets: “Today was a total team effort,” Head Coach Evan Urbina said following the match. “GCU is well coached and very tough, and they’ve won a lot this year… We just stayed tough and resilient from the start.” Urbina also praised Leaird’s performance as well as Brown’s decisive service game: “Jack served out his match with one of his best service games I’ve seen!”
With this road victory against another ranked team, Air Force prepares for upcoming home conference matches on Friday and Sunday.
