Lopes defeat Eagles, win fourth straight

Friday, March 16

Fort Myers, Fla.

2:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Florida Gulf Coast

Photo by: Travis Neely

3/16/2018 10:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Jerob Moon

FORT MYERS, Fla.—The Grand Canyon men's tennis team (11-4) extended their winning streak with a 5-2 win over Florida Gulf Coast (4-8) on Friday. The Lopes despite being down early responded in the singles to win their eleventh match of the season.

"The guys probably had their best singles performance of the year," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "We knew the match was going to be tough going up against a team that had a pretty good all season and were playing on their home courts in front of a good crowd. The guys rolled up their sleeves and were ready for a tough battle."

GCU stumbled in the doubles to begin the match, losing a close 2-1 decision. After the first two matches were split, it came down to the final match on court number one with Mathieu Rajaonah and Lorenzo Fucile. The pair fought hard but a late service break by FGCU proved to be the difference, as the Eagles took the match and the doubles point to kick things off.

However, in singles, the Lopes rebounded quickly. Mathieu Rajaonah brushed off the recent singles struggles and won in convincing fashion 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 to even the score. Fucile won at No. 2 in straight sets to give the team the lead, and Lucas Grego won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 to extend the lead to 3-1. Grego extended his winning streak to seven matches and remained perfect at No. 4 on the season.

With the Lopes on the brink of a win, sophomore Valentin Lang clinched the match for the Lopes, winning at No. 3 in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. Justin Cvitanovic added another win on the board at No. 5, as GCU took five of the six singles matches to win 5-2.

"The guys rolled up their sleeves they were ready for a tough battle going into singles," coach Prudhomme said. "All of the experience and confidence they have been building with the recent wins, and the hard work they have been putting in on the practice courts, and off the court really paid off. We got early leads on almost every court and when the other team put up a fight in the second set, our guys were able to get the job done and cross that finish line."

GCU will look to make it five in a row on Sunday against Illinois State (9-4). The Redbirds will compete against the Eagles on Saturday before facing the Lopes on Sunday. The match will begin at 11 a.m. (MDT).