Sweep caps perfect WAC season

Saturday, April 13

Seattle, Wash.

1:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UT Rio Grande Valley

4/13/2019 4:42:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Lopes clinch No. 1 tournament seed with 7-0 win

By: Jerob Moon

SEATTLE — The Grand Canyon men's tennis team finished WAC play with a 5-0 record after a 7-0 sweep of UT Rio Grande Valley (4-19, 1-4) on Saturday. The Lopes dropped one match all day in route to clinching the No. 1 overall seed for the WAC tournament.

"The guys finished the last regular season match on a high note," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "The guys did a great job keeping their focus and concentration high and stayed sharp to finish strong. I'm real proud of the guy's effort all season long, they finished with their best tennis and that's what we have been working towards all season."

The Lopes (17-6, 5-0) are playing some of their best tennis down the stretch of the season, winning nine of the past 10 matches. Strong doubles play has been key, and Saturday was no different with the Lopes taking the point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3. Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah, at the top position, and Lucas Grego and Freddie Grant, at the third position, each won 6-2. Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak suffered their first loss of conference play at No. 2, falling 6-3.

In singles, the Lopes were dominant with straight-set wins in every match. Lang won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 to start things off while Grego won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4. It was his 19th singles win of the season, tying Fucile's freshman mark in 2016 when he went 19-4.

Fucile would clinch the team win with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1, followed by straight-set wins from Rajaonah, Grant and Novak to finish the match.

Grant, Lang and Novak finished WAC play with 5-0 records in singles and winning streaks close to double digits.

As a team, GCU went 27-3 in singles and 11-4 in doubles in WAC play and has won more than 71 percent of all singles matches this season. The Lopes' 17 wins are also a new Division I program record.

The Lopes have clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the WAC Tournament, along with a first-round bye. GCU will play the winner of the No. 4 and 5 seeds' matchup. The tournament is hosted by UTRGV and will take place in Brownsville, Texas, from April 26-28.