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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Lopes head on Montana road trip
1/31/2020 11:41:00 AM | Women's Tennis
GCU kicks off 4-dual swing with 2 in Montana
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| Grand Canyon Lopes (0-2) |
vs | Montana Grizzlies (0-3) |
Montana State Bobcats (0-4) |
| Saturday, Feb. 1 9 a.m. |
Sunday, Feb. 2 9 a.m. |
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| Live Stats |
The Grand Canyon women's tennis team kicks off a four-match road trip this weekend with matches against Montana and Montana State.
The Lopes are coming off a 4-3 loss to BYU at home last week. The Lopes took the doubles point and saw freshman Natasha Puehse and junior Ludovica Infantino each win singles matches. The match came down to senior Celina Buhr at No. 3 but she was unable to close out the win, losing in three sets in a 3 1/2-hour match.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- LOOKING FOR WINS: GCU, Montana and Montana State enter this weekend in search of their first wins of 2020. The Lopes are coming off home losses to No. 5 Duke and BYU to start the year while the Grizzlies started the year with three losses to Power 5 opponents. Montana State enters with four losses after going winless at the Hurricane Invitational in Tulsa, Oklahoma, two weeks ago.
- PUEHSE PLAYING WELL: Puehse earned her first career singles win against the Cougars at No. 2. After dropping the first set 7-5, the Scottsdale, Arizona, native rattled off dominant 6-1 and 6-2 sets to beat BYU's Leah Heimuli.
- ROAD TRIP CONTINUES: February will feature six road matches for the Lopes, starting this weekend. After facing Montana and Montana State, the Lopes will travel to California. GCU will take on UC Irvine on Feb. 8 before playing Nevada in a neutral-site match on Feb. 9. The Lopes will be home on Feb. 15-16 before ending the month in Hawaii on Feb. 27-28.
SCOUTING
Montana started the season with a 0-3 record. The Grizzlies have hosted two Power 5 opponents that included a doubleheader with Utah and Minnesota.The Grizzlies are coming off a 4-17 season that included a 1-8 record at home. Their schedule was loaded with six Power 5 opponents and they picked up their first win of the season in Big Sky Conference play over Portland State. This season's team is led by Julia Ronney, who went 9-8 at No. 1 singles last season.
Montana has won the previous two meetings against GCU with both matches in Arizona. Montana won 6-2 in 2006 and 5-2 in 2012 at the Paseo Racquet Center.
Montana State will wrap up its season-opening trip against the Lopes on Sunday. The Bobcats started with a loss at Oral Roberts before losing matches against Wyoming, Tulsa and Louisiana Tech at the Hurricane Invitational in Tulsa.
Last season, Montana State went 3-16 and ended the season on an 11-match losing streak. The Bobcats did defeat Seattle U 4-3, and Portland State. The Bobcats have a young squad with one senior (Laura May), three freshmen and two sophomores.
GCU and Montana State have split the four all-time meetings with the Bobcats winning the most recent matchup 4-3 in 2018 in Des Moines, Iowa. GCU won back-to-back meetings in 2016 and 2012.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Lopes lost 4-3 against BYU at home.
- GCU won the doubles point and two singles matches.
- The match time was over 3 1/2 hours long.
WHAT'S NEXT
- Next week, GCU will travel to Irvine, California, to face UC Irvine on Feb. 8 and Nevada on Feb. 9.
Players Mentioned
Thursday, April 23
Monday, April 21