(St. George, Utah - March 22, 2024) - The Trailblazers opened WAC action on Friday afternoon falling 6-1 to No. 63 Grand Canyon at the Trailblazer Tennis Courts.

Utah Tech (5-9, 0-1 WAC) earned a win at number three singles with Mariana Zurita winning the opening set, 6-2 before her opponent Iva Sepa retired in the second set.

"It was a good match! They competed really well against the #63 ranked team in the nation," said head coach Eric Pelton.

The Trailblazers competed tough at both number two and three doubles as both went to a tie breaker, but were narrowly edged in the end.

"Number two and three doubles came out strong and really played well. They had some set point opportunities, but couldn't quite close them out, but they really competed hard and played well," added Pelton.''

The Trailblazers close out the weekend hosting Stephen F. Austin (8-5, 0-1 WAC) on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Trailblazer Tennis Courts.

Results
No. 63 Grand Canyon 6, Utah Tech 1
March 22, 2024 at Trailblazer Tennis Courts (St. George, UT)

Doubles competition 
1. Natasha Puehse/Santa Strombacha (GCU) def. Mariana Zurita/Rachel Mellor (UTU) 6-1
2. Valentina Del Marco/Valeriia Krokhotina (GCU) def. Ya-Chi Hsu/Ana Gutierrez Sampere (UTU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Elizaveta Morozova/Iva Sepa (GCU) def. Olivia Bustos/Adithi Venkatakrishnan (UTU) 7-6 (7-5)

Singles competition 
1. Natasha Puehse (GCU) def. Adithi Venkatakrishnan (UTU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Santa Strombacha (GCU) def. Ana Gutierrez Sampere (UTU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Mariana Zurita (UTU) def. Iva Sepa 6-2, retired
4. Elizaveta Morozova (UTU) def. Rachel Mellor (UTU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Valentina Del Marco (UTU) def. Ya-Chi Hsu (UTU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Dania Deaifi (GCU) def. Raquel Roshak (UTU) 6-0, 6-1

Match Notes:
Utah Tech (5-9, 0-1 WAC)
No. 63 Grand Canyon (13-2, 1-0 WAC)