BROWNSVILLE, Texas – The New Mexico State men's tennis team saw its season come to an end in heartbreak fashion Sunday afternoon at the Brownsville Tennis Center when it fell to Grand Canyon 4-3 in the third and final set of the match.
 
NM State (15-10) started out strong in doubles action with Louis Menard and Enrique Asmar taking the top position 6-2 before Nicolas Buitrago and Louis Flores were able to clinch the point with a 6-3 win on court No. 3.
 
Grand Canyon (19-6) got back on track in singles play, taking the No. 3 singles position 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 over freshman Martin Simecek. Senior Mauri Benitez put the Crimson & White back on top when he rallied back from down a set to defeat Lucas Grego 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on court No. 4.
 
However, the Lopes found a way to tie it back up when Buitrago couldn't hang on to his lead in the first set and ultimately fell 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 at the No. 6 singles slot. The back-and-forth action continued as Asmar ousted Freddie Grant on court No. 5 with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory before Stijn de Haan's rally in the second set couldn't be sustained in the third – falling 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at the top singles position.
 
With the match tied up at 3-3, all eyes were on court No. 2 once again. Despite winning the first set 7-5, Menard wasn't able to finish off Mathieu Rajaonah – who forced a third set after taking the second set 7-6 (7-4).
 
Trailing 3-0 in the third and final set, Menard rallied on his serve to make it 3-1 before Rajaonah put the sophomore behind 4-1. That deficit and momentum for GCU was too much to overcome as Menard fell 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 on court No. 2 and ended the season for NM State.
 
The Aggies bid farewell to their four seniors in de Haan, Benitez, Asmar and Alejandro Rosas Garcia, who have guided the Aggies to two WAC Championships, a regular-season title and two NCAA Tournament appearances.