Men's Tennis Falls 5-4 to HPU

Saturday, March 26

Honolulu, HI

1:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Hawaii Pacific

Murray was 2-0 in his two matches today.

3/26/2011 7:53:12 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Mike McNally

The Grand Canyon University men’s tennis team dropped a heartbreaker to Hawai’i Pacific this afternoon, losing 5-4, at the Central Oahu Regional Park in Waipahu, Hawai’i.

The loss snaps the Antelopes four-match winning streak and drops their overall record to 9-6.

GCU entered the match ranked No. 42 in the nation and No. 4 in the west. HPU entered No. 25 in the nation and No. 2 in the west region.

“It was one of the most fun and exciting matches to be involved with in many years, but, unfortunately, it ended as a defeat decided by the narrowest of margins,” said head coach Greg Prudhomme. “When a match is lost 4-5 with three of the losses being decided in the third set, a small difference on any of those courts would have made the difference. HPU did a great job fighting in those third-set matches.”

The Antelopes started well, winning two of three doubles matches to take the early lead.

The match however was decided in a trio of three-set contests.

Frederic Schoelzel dropped his first match of the season, losing 6-4, 2-6, 2-6.

Ahmad Saleem’s match at No. 3 singles also went the distance. Saleem was able to rally to win the second set after dropping the opener, but fell 6-3 in the third set.

Kevin Anderson won 7-5 in the second set to force his No. 5 singles match to a third set. Anderson, however, would drop the third set 6-3.

Stephane Murray and Patrice Giraldi both were 2-0 for the day.

“As tough as the loss is for the guys to take, it doesn’t change that they have much to be proud for,” said Prudhomme. “They fought very hard, showed much improvement, and will bounce back even stronger for having played this tough contest. This is the first time we are coming home from Hawaii with a winning record and we were one match from sweeping the entire trip.”

The Antelopes are off until April 21, when they will face Sonoma State in Rohnert Park, Calif.

Full Results

Doubles

1. Schoelzel/Murray GCU def Davis/Heo HPU 8-3

2. Michnev/Libietis HPU def Saleem/Anderson GCU 8-5

3. Giraldi/Herbert GCU def Bader/Alotaibi HPU 8-6

Singles

1. Michnev HPU def Schoelzel GCU 4-6,6-2,6-2

2. Murray GCU def Bader HPU 6-2,4-6,6-3

3. Heo HPU def Saleem GCU 6-2,4-6,6-3

4. Giraldi GCU def Pauli HPU 6-4,6-4

5. Libietis HPU def Anderson GCU 6-1,5-7,6-3

6. Davis HPU def Herbert GCU 6-4,6-3