Old rivalry renewed in loss

Sunday, April 7

Tempe, Ariz

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Arizona State

4/7/2019 11:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Lopes strong in final nonconference match

By: Jerob Moon

TEMPE, Ariz.—The Grand Canyon men's tennis team reignited an old rivalry on Sunday evening when the Lopes met Arizona State for the first time since 1987. The Sun Devils took the match 4-1, but the Lopes competed up and down the lineup.

It was the first recorded match between the two schools since January 29, 1987. Previously the two teams had meet twice an year annually dating back to 1953, the Lopes first year as men's tennis program.

"Heck of an effort from the guys tonight, they really fought out there," head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "ASU is one of the hottest teams in country so for us to lose 4-1 was good. We were as much in the doubles matches as we have been with anybody this year. All the way down the singles lineup, top to bottom, everyone was competing."

Doubles was highly competitive on all three courts. Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah played the No. 9 doubles team in the country, Nathan Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky, and fought hard in a 6-3 loss.

The remaining matches both went to tiebreakers to decide the point. Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak lost 7-6 (7-2) at No. 2 which stopped Lucas Grego and Freddie Grant's chance at getting a win at No. 3. The pair were one point away from winning leading 9-8 in the tiebreaker.

In singles the Lopes lost the first set on five courts but battled back in the second sets keeping the matches competitive. Novak was the highlight of the night, winning 6-4, 7-6 at No. 6 putting the Lopes on the scoreboard.

Fucile fought back after dropping the first set to push the second frame to tiebreakers but fell against No. 71 ranked Ponwith. Meanwhile, Lang took his second set 7-5 and Grant forced tiebreakers in neighboring courts, each of their matches were left unfinished.

Losses by Rajaonah and Grego at Nos. 2 and 4 completed the clinch for ASU taking the match 4-1.

Despite the loss Pruhomme and the rest of the team are looking at the bigger picture with the final WAC cluster looming next weekend.

"That's a great match to get us ready for the second half of our conference play coming up next weekend, and hopefully we get to play back at ASU in the future. But I'm real proud of the mark the guys left on the courts with such a close match," Prudhomme added.

The men's team will prepare for the final WAC cluster of the season taking place at Seattle U. The Lopes will face New Mexico State and UT Rio Grande Valley on April 12 and 13 with hopes extending their perfect 3-0 conference mark.