Lopes shut out Redhawks 7-0

Saturday, March 30

Las Cruces, N.M.

9 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

3/30/2019 3:46:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

GCU drops one match in second WAC win

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team kept their hot streak going with a 7-0 shutout of Seattle U on Saturday morning in Las Cruces, N.M.

The Lopes (13-5, 2-0) dropped only one match all day in route to a dominant showing and a 2-0 record in WAC play.

"Guys followed yesterday's great performance with another one today," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "We won in straight sets in all six singles. The guys got on top early and kept their lead all the way through."

The Lopes were tested in doubles when Seattle (4-8, 0-1) won 6-0 quickly at the top position over Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah. It was the second straight conference loss for the Lopes' top pair but the team rallied at the other positions.

Lucas Grego and Freddie Grant won their third match in a row at No. 3 winning 6-1, improving their season record to 9-6 on the season. Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak then clinched the doubles point at No. 2, coming back from a 3-4 deficit to win 7-5. It was the ninth win in a row for the duo extending their team leading 13-2 record.

""The doubles got a little tricky, Seattle played really well at No. 1 and we had a surprise quick loss there," Prudhomme said. "The pressure fell on Val and Jakub at No. 2, and they were trailing, but they did a great job finishing strong to get us the doubles point."

With the 1-0 lead in hand, the Lopes came out strong in singles taking all six matches in straight sets. Grego, now 16-1 this season, won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4, and Novak won 6-0, 6-2 to extend the GCU lead. The match was clinched by Fucile at No. 1, avenging the doubles loss with a 6-3, 6-0 win giving the Lopes the team win.

Grant, Lang and Rajaonah would wrap their matches soon after completing the 7-0 sweep for the Lopes.

"Another great performance, we built up some good momentum," Prudhomme added. "We want to finish the job this weekend and see if we can get three straight."

The Lopes will face Chicago State (3-15, 0-1) on Sunday at 8 a.m. (Phoenix time). The Cougars dropped their first conference match to New Mexico State losing 6-1.