Lopes take down Air Force for third straight win

Sunday, January 29

Colorado Springs, CO

11 AM

Grand Canyon

Air Force Academy

1/29/2017 3:49:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Samantha Fell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Grand Canyon men's tennis team defeated the Air Force Falcons by a score of 4-3 on Sunday afternoon for their third consecutive victory. The Lopes improve their record to 3-2 for the season and completed a successful road trip to Colorado this weekend with their second win in less than 24 hours.

"The guys played a great match today," head coach Greg Prudhomme noted. "Anytime we can come and beat a team that we've lost to in the past, and do it on the road, with the indoor courts and the high altitude, it definitely is what we want to see out of our players. We want to see that they are able to compete and make adjustments and handle different styles of opponents. You don't always know how it's going to work out when you have a lot of freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup. They definitely passed this test today and it was a great team effort."

In doubles play, two pairs of Lopes took the victories to seal the point for GCU. After falling behind with a loss at No. 1 doubles, the pair of Mathieu Rajaonah and Francois Musitelli won at No. 2 by a score of 6-3. To clinch the point, freshmen Lorenzo Fucile and Valentin Lang edged out a 7-6 (7) victory at No. 3. Their win gave the Lopes a 1-0 advantage heading to singles play.

"They squeaked out the doubles point with a show of good mental toughness and stamina and carried that momentum," Prudhomme added. "The guys got the fourth point [in singles play] very quick to get the job done. It was a good day to catch two wins on the road and we've got lots of work to do to keep making sure we're improving as we get deeper into the season."

Needing three wins to take the match, GCU again relied on their underclassmen. Fucile made quick work of Sanderson of Air Force in the No. 4 match, winning by scores of 6-3, 6-2. Sophomore Rajaonah picked up another win for the Lopes at No. 2 as he defeated Perez by scores of 6-4, 6-3. To clinch the team victory, freshman Musitelli won a huge match on the first court. He overpowered Fumagalli 7-5, and 6-1 to secure the win.

The Lopes will return to the courts next weekend in California. GCU faces UC Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. and then will take on UC San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m.

Singles