Lopes advance to Golden State Invite Championships

Friday, March 10

Sacramento, Calif.

Grand Canyon

Nevada

3/11/2017 10:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Jake Hernandez

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Grand Canyon men's tennis team advanced to the Golden State Invitational Championship round after defeating Sacramento State, 4-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Championship match will take place at UC Davis on Sunday, March 12 at 1 p.m. MST against Portland.

"The close matches the team faced last week in the Pacific and Mountain Invite paid off four our team this weekend," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme commented.

On Friday, March 10, the first day of the tournament, Grand Canyon defeated Nevada, 4-0. After not playing doubles last weekend, the Lopes were able to gain the point against Wolf Pack in doubles to carry the momentum into singles. In singles play, Francois Musitelli defeated his opponent on court No. 1, 6-4, 6-1 to get the Lopes off to a quick start. At No. 6, Lorenzo Fucile topped his foe 6-1, 6-3 before Justin Cvitanovic took the point at No. 4, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the match.

"It was great to get another win today," GCU assistant coach Amit Maharaj added. "Our guys are competing well to put themselves in a position to win the tough matches. The experience we have gained from the close matches is paying off. The competitive culture and belief we have as a team is building into something special."

In the second day of the tournament, the Lopes faced a tough opponent in Sacramento State. The Lopes were able to coast to 4-0 victory to send themselves to the championship round. The Lopes took care of business in doubles play to take the 1-0 advantage into the singles.

At singles, Fucile once again came through for Grand Canyon to earn the second point of the match to defeat his opponent, 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 4. Musitelli was also dealing to defeat his foe 7-5, 6-0 at No. 1 before Adrian Legarreta sealed the deal for the Lopes on No. 3 by the score of 7-5, 6-3.

Next up, the Lopes will take on the Portland Pilots in the Championship Round on Sunday, March 12 at 1 p.m. MST at UC Davis.

Day 1
Grand Canyon 4, Nevada 0

Singles
No. 1: Mustitelli (GCU) def. Evrard (Nevada), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2: Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) vs. Margitpalvi (Nevada), DNF
No. 3: Legarreta (GCU) vs. Delahadde (Nevada), DNF
No. 4: Fucile (GCU) def. Cilic (Nevada), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5: Valentin Lang (GCU) vs. Nesterenko (Nevada), DNF
No. 6: Cvitanovic (GCU) def. O'Donovan (Nevada), 6-1, 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 4, 6

Doubles
No. 1: Legarreta/Philip Kuehnen (GCU) vs. Evrard/Delahadde (Nevada), DNF
No. 2: Rajaonah/Mathieu Ounanian (GCU) def. Margitpalvi (Nevada), 6-4
No. 3: Fucile/Lang (GCU) def. Cilic/Nesterenko (Nevada), 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 2

Day 2
Grand Canyon 4, Sacramento State 0

Singles
No. 1: Mustitelli (GCU) def. Lasbergs (Sac St.), 7-5, 6-0
No. 2: Rajanah (GCU) vs. Miller (Sac St.), DNF
No. 3: Lagarreta (GCU) def. Zemaitelis (Sac St.), 7-5, 6-3
No. 4: Fucile (GCU) def. Chabut (Sac St.), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5: Lang (GCU) vs. Clayton (Sac St.), DNF
No. 6: Cvitanovic (GCU) def. Hale (Sac St.), DNF

Order of finish: 4, 1, 3

Doubles
No. 1: Lagarreta/Kuehnen (GCU) def. Losberg/Zemaitelis (Sac St.), 6-4
No. 2: Rajaonah/Ounanian (GCU) def. Clayton/Chabut (Sac St.), 6-2
No. 3: Fucile/Lang (GCU) vs. Miller/Hall (Sac St.), DNF

Order of finish: 1, 2