Lopes win at home, top Montana 6-1

Monday, March 20

Phoenix, AZ

11 AM

Grand Canyon

Montana

3/20/2017 4:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Samantha Fell

PHOENIX – The GCU men's tennis team needed one more non-conference matchup this week to prepare for WAC play. The Lopes looked strong in defeating Montana 6-1 on Monday afternoon and will play their first conference match this Friday.

"The men did a great job taking care of business today with the University of Montana," head coach Greg Prudhomme stated. "Montana did a good job in doubles by taking the first set on Court 3 but we had solid performances at Court 1 and 2. It was nice to get the doubles point and win five out of the six singles."

After earning the doubles point thanks to wins from the pairs of Adrian Legarreta and Philip Kuehnen at No. 1, and Mathieu Rajaonah and Lorenzo Fucile at No. 2, the Lopes continued to play strong in singles. Fucile earned the first quick victory of singles play on Court 4, winning by decisive scores of 6-1, 6-1.

Justin Cvitanovic and Gregoire Balenci followed suit and also won quick matches at No. 5 and No. 6. Cvitanovic defeated Canellopoulos 6-3, 6-3, and Balenci edged Hallgren 6-4, 6-4. With Cvitanovic's win, the Lopes clinched the team victory but continued play on all other courts.

At No. 2, Rajaonah battled through a close first set to earn a 7-5, 6-3 win. Francois Musitelli also rallied back, down a set, to win at No. 1 by scores of 5-7, 6-0, 10-3 and round out the scoring for GCU.

"Francois [Musitelli] did a good job coming from a set behind to win in the ten point tiebreaker," Prudhomme added. "The guys built some good momentum here at the beginning of the week that we are going to want to see at the end of the week when we have our home conference matches."

The Lopes will begin WAC play this weekend at the GCU Tennis Facility. On Friday, GCU faces New Mexico State at 3 p.m. Grand Canyon will battle Missouri-Kansas City at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 25 and complete play on Sunday, March 26 against Chicago State. The final matchup will be Senior Day for the four senior Lopes: Kuehnen, Legarreta, Rafael Lira and Mathieu Ounanian.

Grand Canyon University 6, Montana 1
Mar 20, 2017 at Phoenix, Ariz. (GCU Tennis Facility)

Singles competition
1. Francois Musitelli (GCU) def. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) 5-7, 6-0, 10-3
2. Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) def. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P. (UM) 7-5, 6-3
3. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. Adrian Legarreta (GCU) 4-6, 7-6 (3-0), 10-3
4. Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. KORKH, Max (UM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-3, 6-3
6. Gregoire Balenci (GCU) def. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Adrian Legarreta/Philip Kuehnen (GCU) def. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P./KORKH, Max (UM) 6-3
2. Mathieu Rajaonah/Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) 6-2
3. CASADEVALL, Victor/SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. Gregoire Balenci/Mathieu Ounanian (GCU) 6-1

Match Notes
Montana 7-6
Grand Canyon University 11-9
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,5,2,1,3)