Completed Event: Women's Tennis versus W15 Lincoln on November 3, 2025 ,
W Tennis
vs W15 Lincoln
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, February 23
Tucson, Ariz.
10 A.M.
Grand Canyon
1
vs
4
Liberty
GCU falls to Liberty in Tucson
2/23/2019 5:19:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Lopes battle Flames in cold temperatures
TUCSON, Ariz.—The Grand Canyon women's tennis team dropped a neutral-site match to Liberty in Tucson on Saturday. The Flames (3-4) won the doubles point and jumped out early in singles to wind up with a 4-1 win.
The Lopes (2-7) were only able to play one match this weekend due to snow and rain canceling the match with Arizona on Friday. The rain in Phoenix and cold weather in Tucson prevented the team from practicing for two straight days and they were relegated to a hotel room workout Friday.
"The girls had an interesting weekend heading into today's match, but it's part of the business," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "They played in 37-degree weather outside this morning, but they competed really well. We certainly had some highlights, especially winning at No. 3 doubles with Autumn (Prudhomme) and Celia (Buhr)."
Coach Prudhomme made two changes to the lineup, inserting junior transfer Mathilde Lirzin into doubles action while moving Celia Morel to No. 2 and Martina Lo Pumo to No. 3 in the singles lineup.
Lirzin teamed up with Lo Pumo at No. 2 doubles for her first action of the season. The pair battled in a 6-4 loss, which gave Liberty the doubles point after the Flames won at No. 1. Morel and Autumn Prudhomme won 6-4 at No. 3 for their first win since the Drake match on Jan. 18.
Down 1-0 in a clinch format, the Lopes fell behind early in singles. Liberty had straight-set wins at Nos. 6 and 4 to push the score to 3-0 and needed only one more win to end the match. GCU's Emilia Occhipinti earned her fifth win of the season at No. 1, closing out the second set quickly at 6-1 after winning the first set 7-6.
The Flames clinched the 4-1 win with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 match over Morel in her first match at No. 2. Two other competitive singles matches were then stopped, Buhr was tied 3-3 in the third set at No. 4 and Ludovica Infantino was tied 5-5 in the second set after winning the first at No. 6.
"Ludovica was looking real good to close out her match and Celina was trying to win her third straight comeback win when they stopped," Prudhomme said. "If they keep fighting with the attitude and the effort in these close losses we've had, then they're going to see that turn around into wins soon."
The Lopes will travel back to Phoenix on Saturday and play at home Sunday against UC Santa Barbara at 10 a.m.
The Lopes (2-7) were only able to play one match this weekend due to snow and rain canceling the match with Arizona on Friday. The rain in Phoenix and cold weather in Tucson prevented the team from practicing for two straight days and they were relegated to a hotel room workout Friday.
"The girls had an interesting weekend heading into today's match, but it's part of the business," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "They played in 37-degree weather outside this morning, but they competed really well. We certainly had some highlights, especially winning at No. 3 doubles with Autumn (Prudhomme) and Celia (Buhr)."
Coach Prudhomme made two changes to the lineup, inserting junior transfer Mathilde Lirzin into doubles action while moving Celia Morel to No. 2 and Martina Lo Pumo to No. 3 in the singles lineup.
Lirzin teamed up with Lo Pumo at No. 2 doubles for her first action of the season. The pair battled in a 6-4 loss, which gave Liberty the doubles point after the Flames won at No. 1. Morel and Autumn Prudhomme won 6-4 at No. 3 for their first win since the Drake match on Jan. 18.
Down 1-0 in a clinch format, the Lopes fell behind early in singles. Liberty had straight-set wins at Nos. 6 and 4 to push the score to 3-0 and needed only one more win to end the match. GCU's Emilia Occhipinti earned her fifth win of the season at No. 1, closing out the second set quickly at 6-1 after winning the first set 7-6.
The Flames clinched the 4-1 win with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 match over Morel in her first match at No. 2. Two other competitive singles matches were then stopped, Buhr was tied 3-3 in the third set at No. 4 and Ludovica Infantino was tied 5-5 in the second set after winning the first at No. 6.
"Ludovica was looking real good to close out her match and Celina was trying to win her third straight comeback win when they stopped," Prudhomme said. "If they keep fighting with the attitude and the effort in these close losses we've had, then they're going to see that turn around into wins soon."
The Lopes will travel back to Phoenix on Saturday and play at home Sunday against UC Santa Barbara at 10 a.m.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
12
76
Lara Soares / 0 [LIBERTYW]
61
#2 Singles Match
123
621
Ashley Bongart / 0 [LIBERTYW]
366
#3 Singles Match
1234
5630
Maria Medina / 0 [LIBERTYW]
743UF
#4 Singles Match
12
42
Alexandra Almborg / 0 [LIBERTYW]
66
#5 Singles Match
123
750
Grace Hashiguchi / 0 [LIBERTYW]
55UF
#6 Singles Match
12
01
Anna Dollar / 0 [LIBERTYW]
66
Order of Finish:
6,4,1,2
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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