Men's Tennis Downs BYU-Hawai'i 9-0

Wednesday, February 8

Glendale, AZ

9 a.m.

Grand Canyon

BYU-Hawai'i

Majan won in straight sets for the women.

2/8/2012 1:44:00 PM | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis

Women Fall to Seasiders

The Grand Canyon University tennis teams split today in their matches with BYU-Hawai’i at the Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale, Ariz.

The men, ranked No. 2 in the West Region Preseason Poll, defeated No. 4 BYU-Hawai’i, 9-0. The win evens their overall record to 1-1.

“I thought this was a big statement for our guys,” said head coach Greg Prudhomme. “BYU may be a little down from teams they have had in the past, but to win 9-0 proves that we are one of the best teams in the country. I’m proud of the guys for staying focused in all nine positions.”

Frederic Schoelzel secured a win at No. 1 singles, beating West Region No.2 Zevhan Zakharov, 6-2, 6-4.

Stephane Murray battled back after losing the opening set, to win 7-5 in the second and 11-9 in the third.

“Stephane showed a lot of fight in his third set to win 11-9,” added Prudhomme. “That is the type of fight we will need to show all season to be one of the top teams in the country at the end of the season. “We have to build the habit of fighting no matter what the score is.”

Patrice Giraldi, Peter Kazianschuetz and Ahmad Saleem won in straight sets. Bastien Tonus rallied from an opening set los to take the third set, 10-4.

The women fell in their opening match to BYU-Hawai’i, who is currently ranked No.2 in the nation and No. 1 in the West Region. GCU is ranked No. 3 in the West Region.

“When you are playing one of the top-two teams in the country it can be tough to stay motivated when things are not going your way,” said Prudhomme. “You can play your best tennis and still not win. I felt like we were playing some of our best tennis on many of the courts and it is a form of a compliment when you see the other team raising their game to have to beat you. The girls will rebound as we go through the season. They have shown a great amount of depth throughout the lineup.”

Justine Majan played a spirited match to win at No. 4 singles. Frederique Van de Velde and Cecilia Vergnet dropped tough first sets in their efforts.

The women return to the court today at 3 p.m. to face Dixie State at the Paseo Racquet Center.

Click here to see the full slate of matches for the week.

Women’s Tennis
Doubles competition
1. I-Hsuan (Annie) Hwang/Shoazhuo (Sherry) Liu (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Katharina Mittag/Frederique Van de Velde (GCU) 8-0
2. Yuan Jia/Marietta Tulonetoa (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Priscilla Annoual/Franziska Schmid (GCU) 8-1
3. Marika Kobayashi/Tanja Rebholz (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Cecilia Vergnet/Justine Majan (GCU) 8-4

Singles competition

I-Hsuan (Annie) Hwang (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Katharina Mittag (GCU) 6-0, 6-0
Shoazhuo (Sherry) Liu (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Priscilla Annoual (GCU) 6-2, 6-3
Yuan Jia (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Frederique Van de Velde (GCU) 7-6 (5), 6-1
Justine Majan (GCU) def. Marietta Tulonetoa (BYU-Hawai’i) 6-2, 6-4
Marika Kobayashi (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Franziska Schmid (GCU) 6-1, 6-3
Alexandra (Sasha) Ulbrichtova (BYU-Hawai’i) def. Cecilia Vergnet (GCU) 7-5, 6-0

Final: BYU-Hawai’i 8 Grand Canyon 1

Men’s Tennis

Doubles competition
1. Frederic Schoelzel/Stephane Murray (GCU) def. Yevhen Zakharov/Martin Chojnacki (BYU-Hawai’i) 8-2
2. Peter Kazianschuetz/Patrice Giraldi (GCU) def. Christopher (C.J.) Adamson/Huakun (Andy) Xing (BYU-Hawai’i) 8-3
3. Bastien Tonus/Ahmad Saleem (GCU) def. Christaan Noot/Isaac Hadley (BYU-Hawai’i) 8-2

Singles competition