Lopes come from behind to defeat San Francisco 4-2

Saturday, February 25

San Francisco, CA

1:30 PM

Grand Canyon

San Francisco

2/25/2017 7:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Samantha Fell

SAN FRANCISCO – After falling behind by one point in doubles play, GCU rallied to win four of five singles matches and defeat San Francisco 4-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Lopes improve their record to 7-4 and will play another match in California tomorrow against Santa Clara.

"The guys won a great match today," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "They took the experience that they gained from the tough and close losses we had against U of A and Utah State on the last road trip and they applied it today. We found ourselves in a similar battle today as we lost the doubles point to start it off. We had to come from behind and the guys showed a lot of character and mental toughness to get back into the match."

Freshman Lorenzo Fucile earned the first point for GCU as he quickly defeated Poysti of San Francisco by scores of 6-3, 6-2. Adrian Legarreta followed closely behind, adding another point for the Lopes by winning 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3. Valentin Lang overcame an early tiebreaker to earn GCU's third point at No. 6. He beat Marinelli of San Francisco 7-6 (2), 6-1.

"We had the momentum going for us," Prudhomme explained. "We got into some tough fights in the remaining matches and both Raj [Mathieu Rajaonah] and Franc [Francois Musitelli] were able to get back into their matches and Raj crossed the finish line to get the fourth point."

Rajaonah battled back against Zincirli at No. 2 to win 7-6 (6), 7-5 and clinch the match for GCU. Musitelli held the lead at No. 1 but his match was left unfinished once the Lopes earned the team victory.

"I was really proud of them," Prudhomme added. "It was a solid win. Anytime we can beat somebody in the West Coast Conference, which is known for their tennis, it's a great win for GCU. We'll rest up tonight and we've got another tough road match tomorrow."

The match against Santa Clara will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Grand Canyon University 4, San Francisco 2

Singles competition
1. Francois Musitelli (GCU) vs. Joenhagen (SF) 6-4, 4-6, 4-2 (40-30) DNF
2. Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) def. Zincirli (SF) 7-6 (6), 7-5
3. Adrian Legarreta (GCU) def. Marker (SF) 6-2, 6-2
4. Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. Poysti (SF) 6-3, 6-2
5. Kumthonkittikul (SF) def. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) 7-6 (5), 6-1
6. Valentin Lang (GCU) def. Marinelli (SF) 7-6 (2), 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Zincirli/Brockstedt (SF) def. Philip Kuehnen/Adrian Legarreta (GCU) 6-1
2. Mathieu Rajaonah/Gregoire Balenci (GCU) def. Joenhagen/Poysti (SF) 6-2
3. Kumthonkittikul /Marinelli (SF) def. Lorenzo Fucile/Valentin Lang (GCU) 6-2

Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,3,6,5,2*)