GCU bested by Shockers in final

Sunday, March 4

Albuquerque, N.M.

11:30 A.M.

Grand Canyon

Wichita State

Photo by: Travis Neely

3/4/2018 11:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Jerob Moon

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M— Grand Canyon men's tennis (7-4) found themselves playing in the championship match on Sunday against Wichita State (6-5) after two wins on Saturday. The Lopes defeated Lamar 4-0 and Brown 4-2 on Saturday to get to the final. GCU was unable to pull out the victory losing 4-2, and will settle for runner-up in the Mountain Pacific Invitational.

"The guys came close to getting a win today but fell a little short," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "Still there were great performances and it was really good weekend for the team. The guys are definitely playing at a higher level than when the season first started."

The Lopes and the Shockers played the first sets of singles very close, GCU took three first sets and Wichita State took the other three. After the Lopes fell behind early 2-0 with losses at No. 6 and No. 2, senior Gregoire Balenci steadied the ship winning at No. 4 in straight sets. Balenci had to battle in the second set winning in tiebreakers 7-6 (12-10).

Freshman Lucas Grego knotted the match up at 2-2 with another win at No. 5, defeating Eddie Stoica in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Valentin Lang suffered his first loss of the weekend at No. 3 in tough three set match, and Wichita State took the match with a three set win over Mathieu Rajaonah at No. 1. Rajaonah won the lost the first set but regrouped and won the second set in tiebreakers, but Haru Inoue was too much in the final set, besting the junior 7-5.

Despite the loss coach Prudhomme recognizes the good play from the team, especially from Grego and Balenci. The two French countrymen went a perfect 3-0 in this weekend's play in Albuquerque.

"Lucas has made huge improvements since he got here in the fall as one of our new players," Prudhomme said. "Gregoire also got three wins on the weekend, those guys battled hard and they are learning how to win. They are making good tactical adjustments when needed and using a lot of positive energy, which not only helps them but helps the team overall as well."

The Lopes will have a short week on the practice courts to prepare for another tournament in California next weekend. GCU will compete in the Golden State Invitational, a three day tournament that begins on Friday, March 9 and concludes on Sunday, March 11. The times and matchups have not been announced.