GCU ends non-conference play with win

Sunday, March 18

Fort Myers, Fla.

10:00 A.M.

Grand Canyon

Illinois State

3/19/2018 9:53:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Jerob Moon

FORT MYERS, Fla.—The Grand Canyon men's tennis team (12-4) kept their winning streak alive defeating Illinois State 5-2 for their fifth straight win on Sunday. The Lopes fell behind early after losing the doubles point, but once again used the singles to their advantage and came back to win 5-2.

"The guys had another great win today, they did it in similar fashion to Friday's match where they lost the doubles point," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "The guys had to roll up their sleeves and dig deep in singles. The matches started off evenly contested on most of the courts, but they stayed strong, and the longer the matches went we were extending our leads."

The doubles decision was almost exactly the same as Friday's match against Florida Gulf Coast. The Lopes and the Redbirds split the first two matches at court two and three, and then a late service break at No. 1 against Mathieu Rajaonah and Lorenzo Fucile proved to be the difference as Illinois State took the doubles point.

Heading into singles the Lopes like they have done most of the season responded quickly. Fucile won at No. 2 in convincing fashion 6-3, 6-0, and Lucas Grego extended his singles winning streak to eight matches with a straight set win at No. 4. For the fifth straight match Grego didn't drop a set and the Lopes regained the lead 2-1.

At the number one position, Rajaonah won in straight sets, as the Lopes were on the verge of clinching the match. Illinois State responded however, by defeating Justin Cvitanovic at No. 5 to gain a point back. But it was freshman Freddie Grant who had the clinching match for the first time this season, a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 6 that gave the Lopes the win. Valentin Lang would add another point to the GCU total at No. 3 as the team won 5-2.

GCU is heading into conference play as one of the hottest teams. They own the best record in the WAC, New Mexico State is in second (9-5) and Seattle U in third (7-9). In 10 days the team will travel to Kansas City, MO. to begin conference play against Seattle U, UTRGV (5-8), and UMKC (5-7).