For the fourth straight year Grand Canyon will compete in the annual Mountain Pacific Invitational.
Eight teams will flock to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete Saturday and Sunday. All teams will play in three matches, rotating between the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium and the Linda Estes Tennis Complex. There will be two matches on Saturday and one on Sunday.
GCU joins host school New Mexico, which is ranked No. 46, in a field with Hawaii, San Francisco, Wichita State, Lamar, Pacific, and Brown.
The Lopes will match up with Lamar (1-6) in their first-round matchup on Saturday at 9 a.m. The Cardinals' last win came Feb. 3 against Jacksonville State but the team had to deal with rough weather conditions resulting in two matches being canceled.
The second tournament matchup for GCU will be against either Brown (10-2) or Pacific (2-8). The Lopes already have played this season against the Tigers, winning 4-1 at Pacific on Feb. 16. If GCU plays Brown, it will be the first meeting between the schools.
Last time out, GCU faced off against Sacramento State and Santa Clara on the road, splitting the matches. The Lopes beat the Hornets 6-1 on Friday and lost 6-1 against the Broncos on Saturday. Freshman
Freddie Grant, who stepped into the starting lineup at No. 6, won two singles matches and was named WAC Singles Player of the Week.
GCU is 1-7 all-time in the Mountain Pacific Invitational, with its lone win coming in 2016 when it beat Santa Clara 4-3.