GCU Topples BYU-Hawai'i

Thursday, March 24

Laie, HI

5:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

BYU Hawaii

'Lopes face Hawai'i Hilo tomorrow in Waipahu.

3/24/2011 9:18:09 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Mike McNally

The Grand Canyon University men’s tennis team opened their three-match road trip to Hawai’i in impressive fashion tonight, defeating BYU-Hawai’i, 7-2, in Laie, Hawai’i.

The Antelopes, ranked No. 42 in the nation and No. 4 in the west region, improved to 8-5 this season. BYU-Hawai’i falls to 9-6. The Seasiders are currently ranked No. 30 in the nation and No. 3 in the west.

“We’ve had some really narrow defeats this year where we were really close to pulling out a big victory,” said head coach Greg Prudhomme. “Tonight was a huge win for us. We no longer need to talk about the progress we have been making as a program; we now have a result that proves it. BYU-Hawai’i has been a historically strong team and they fought us tooth and nail tonight. There were moments in the match where it looked like it could go either way, but our guys did a great job of closing out the match and that makes this win that much sweeter.”

The Antelopes jumped out to a 3-0 lead after sweeping the doubles round. Ahmad Saleem and Kevin Anderson’s win at No.2 doubles highlighted the round, as the pair rallied from 3-6 down to win the final five games and the match.

“Our doubles teams came up really big for us tonight,” said Prudhomme. “Saleem and Anderson were unbelievable in how well they battled back in their match. That win gave a lot of momentum heading into the singles round with a 3-0 lead. Giraldi and Herbert gave us a lot of early energy with their 8-0 win and Schoelzel and Murray beat a very tough Seasiders No. 1 team.”

Frederic Schoelzel continued his undefeated run this season, defeating 18^th-ranked Rong Ma in a match that was decided in a third-set tiebreak. Schoelzel is now 12-0 this season.

Stephane Murray picked up a straight-set win at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-2. He improved to 11-1 on the season.

Patrice Giraldi battled hard tonight after dropping the first set of the No. 4 singles match, 4-6. He would win the second set in a tiebreak and win 10-5 in the third-set tiebreak.

William Herbert’s straight-set win at No. 6 singles continues to show the depth of the men’s squad.

Further magnifying tonight’s win was the Seasiders’ 5-3 win over No. 17 Francis Marion (SC) less than one week ago.

Grand Canyon returns to the courts tomorrow, where they will face Hawai’i Hilo, ranked No. 5 in the west region, at the Central Oahu Regional Park in Waipahu, Hawai’i. The ‘Lopes defeated the Vulcans, 7-2, on Feb. 9 at the Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale, Ariz.

#42 Grand Canyon 7 #30 BYU-Hawai’i 2

Doubles

1. Frederic Schoelzel/Stephane Murray (GCU) def. Rong Ma/Agnel Peter (BYH) 8-3

2. Ahmad Saleem/Kevin Anderson (GCU) def. Diego Miranda/C.J. Adamson (BYH) 8-6

3. Patrice Giraldi/William Hebert (GCU) def. Andy Xing/Taylor De Hoyas (BYH) 8-0

Singles

1. Frederic Schoelzel (GCU) def. #18 Rong Ma (BYH) 3-6, 6-3, 10-4

2. Stephane Murray (GCU) def. Agnel Peter (BYH) 6-4, 6-2

3. Diego Miranda (BYH) def. Ahmad Saleem (GCU) 6-3, 6-4

4. Patrice Giraldi (GCU) def. C.J. Adamson (BYH) 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-5

5. Andy Xing (BYH) def. Kevin Anderson (GCU) 6-3, 6-4

6. William Hebert (GCU) def. Taylor De Hoyas (BYH) 6-4, 6-2