Lopes down Roos in WAC opener

Friday, March 29

Las Cruces, N.M.

8 A.M.

Grand Canyon

Kansas City

3/29/2019 12:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

GCU dominant in singles, doubles vs. UMKC

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team started WAC play with a 6-1 win over Kansas City in Las Cruces, N.M. on Friday.

The Lopes had strong showings in singles and doubles propelling them to a win in the WAC opener.

"Guys did a fantastic job starting off conference play this morning," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "They had a couple of close starts in all three of the doubles, but we got up a break about midway through on all three courts and we were able to finish it off."

Wins at Nos. 2 and 3 gave the Lopes (12-5, 1-0) the doubles point. Lucas Grego and Freddie Grant won 6-3 at the third position while Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak won 6-4. It was Lang's and Novak's eighth win in a row and it gave the Lopes a 1-0 lead heading into singles. Mathieu Rajaonah and Lorenzo Fucile fell in a tiebreaker at No. 1.

In singles, the Lopes were aggressive from the start, taking three first sets by 6-0 or 6-1 scores. Grego and Novak were the first two to finish, winning at Nos. 4 and 6 in straight sets. Rajaonah clinched the team win at No. 2 with a 6-0, 6-4 win with three matches still to finish.

The Roos (5-10, 1-0) would get a point back at No. 1 with a straight-set victory but wins by Lang in three sets and Grant in straight sets capped off a strong start to conference play for GCU.

"Guys did a great job getting off to that good start in doubles and they definitely carried that into singles play," Prudhomme said. "We won the first set on all courts but No. 1 and finished four matches off in straight sets. The guys definitely took care of business. They put to use things that we've been working on throughout the season. Their attitude, body language and energy was great."

The Lopes will hit the courts at New Mexico State again Saturday for a match against Seattle U at 9 a.m. (Phoenix time). It will be the first WAC match of the season for the Redhawks (4-7).