GCU Swept by Loyola Marymount

Sunday, January 25

Los Angeles, CA

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Loyola Marymount

Gregoire Balenci

1/25/2015 4:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis

The Grand Canyon University men's tennis team (0-2) was swept by Loyola Marymount (1-2) in Los Angeles, Calif., to close out their opening weekend.

"Today we had one of those matches that was far away but so close at the same time," said head coach Greg Prudhomme. "We haven't had a match like that in a while where we were shutout on the score but at the same time we had a chance at winning on every single court."

Grand Canyon extended four of their singles matches to three-sets. Sophomore Adrian Legarreta, junior Alexander Roggenkamp, and freshman Philip Kuehnen each battled back after losing the opening set of their three-set contests. Legarreta competed in the second slot against Charles Boyce with a final score of 3-6, 6-2, 1-6, while Roggenkamp finished his match against Felix Van Kann 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 at third. Facing Cristobal Rivera in the fourth position, Kuehnen fell short in his match 5-7, 6-4, 6-10.

"We had four three-set matches that we weren't able to convert on and the straight set matches also went the distance at 4-6, 4-6 on court one and 3-6, 5-7 on court five, so needless to say the guys battled real hard," Prudhomme explained. "We lost to this team last year so we really wanted to come back and do much better, but while we fell short on the score, we certainly didn't fall short on how close the battle was."

Freshman Gregoire Balenci picked up the fourth three-set match, going up against Luke Bohuslav with a final score of 7-5, 2-6, 2-6. Fellow freshman Mathieu Ounanian competed alongside junior Meidy Chazeau in doubles for his first match of the spring.

"It was nice to see two new freshmen in the lineup today," Prudhomme continued. "Gregoire at number six fought hard and ended up in the third set and Mathieu got some action at number three doubles. They both did well for themselves and are going to be a good part of the program as we move forward."

Loyola Marymount also received a sweep in doubles play, winning the first and third matches 6-3 and the second 6-2.

"We do have some things to work on that we learned from today and yesterday that the guys are going to be really motivated to improve and work on," concluded Prudhomme. "We look forward to making adjustments on the practice courts and getting back out there in a couple weeks."

The Lopes will be hosting their only home matches of the season on Feb. 6-7. The team will face Utah State on Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. and Western New Mexico at 12 p.m. on Feb. 7. Fans are encouraged to come watch the matches at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale, Ariz., and to check back at www.gculopes.com for the full recap.

LMU 7, GCU 0