WAC play begins at UMKC

PHOENIX—The Grand Canyon men's tennis team will begin the play in the first cluster of conference tennis matches in Kansas City, Missouri. The Lopes (12-4) will take on Seattle U (7-9), UTRGV (8-8), and UMKC (5-8) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

GCU was picked as the favorites to win the WAC regular season crown in the pre-conference coaches poll that was released on March 20. The Lopes earned five first-place votes and 25 points overall, followed by New Mexico State (20), UMKC (18), UTRGV (13), Seattle U (8), and Chicago State (6).

The Lopes come into conference play as one of the hottest teams riding a five-match winning streak, and victories in eight of the last ten matches. The team participated in two tournaments, finishing second in the Mountain Pacific Invite, and winning the Golden State Invite for the first time.

One of the keys to success for the team has been in singles. Junior Lucas Grego, in his first year with the Lopes has played primarily at No. 4 and No. 5. Grego sits at 9-5 overall in dual-match play and is currently on an eight match winning streak. Not to be outdone, sophomore Valentin Lang who plays one position higher at No. 3 leads the team in singles wins at 11-6. Fellow sophomore Lorenzo Fucile, last year's WAC Freshman of the Year, has played strong as of late, winning his previous four matches and sits at 7-4 at the No. 2 position.

Junior Mathieu Rajaonah, has been the leader of the team during the season, winning seven matches at the number one singles position. The Lopes have also seen contributions from Gregoire Balenci and Justin Cvitanovic, both have clinched matches for the team throughout the non-conference slate.

In doubles, Rajaonah and Fucile have played primarily the number one position all season leading the team in doubles wins with five. The pair also became the first nationally ranked doubles pair in Division I history for the Lopes, appearing at No. 56 in the rankings released on Feb. 20. The pair of Freddie Grant and Grego have also enjoyed success from the number three position, collecting four wins.

Last season in conference play, the Lopes finished at 4-1 with their lone loss coming to regular season champion New Mexico State. In 2016, the Lopes earned a share of the regular season title, finishing at 4-1 tied with the Roos and Aggies atop the standings.

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Players Mentioned

Gregoire Balenci

Justin Cvitanovic

Lorenzo Fucile

Freddie Grant

Lucas Grego

Valentin Lang

Mathieu Rajaonah

Grand Canyon University Athletics