GCU heads to Stanford for 2


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-8)	vs	#8 Stanford Cardinal (4-1)	Pacific Tigers (0-3)
		Friday, Feb. 7 4 p.m.	Saturday, Feb. 8 10:30 a.m.
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The Grand Canyon men's tennis team will head to Stanford for a pair of matches against the No. 8 Cardinal and Pacific on Friday and Saturday.

The Lopes are coming off a 0-2 week in which they traveled to Northern Arizona and faced San Francisco at home. The Lopes nearly grabbed the doubles point against San Francisco and took the first set in four singles matches but were unable to close out the match, falling in three straight three-set matches.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

WAC DOUBLES AWARD: GCU once again won the WAC Doubles Players of the Week award, this time with senior Lorenzo Fucile and freshman Can Franke earning their second honor of the season. The pair competed at the No. 1 position against NAU and San Francisco and picked up 6-4 and 6-2 wins, respectively. The perfect weekend improved their record at 4-0, the most doubles wins on the team.
FRESHMEN STAND OUT: While the Lopes lost 5-2 to San Francisco at home last week, freshmen David Weber and Julian Mueller each picked up points. Weber won easily 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 for his third singles win in a row. His 6-1 singles record is the best on the team with no other Lope recording more than two wins. Mueller provided the Lopes with a win at No. 6 in straight sets for his second win of the season.
FIRST-TIME MATCHUP: After 2,592 combined tennis matches played by GCU and Stanford, this will be the first-ever meeting between the schools. Stanford's first season was in 1923 while the Lopes began in 1952. This will be the Lopes' fifth Pac-12 school they will face since joining Division I.

SCOUTING

Stanford has been on a tear recently, winning two of three straight matches against ranked opponents. The Cardinal defeated No. 15 Cal, lost to No. 3 USC and defeated No. 10 USC in home nonconference matches. The recent success has vaulted Stanford from No. 11 to No. 8 in the rankings.

The Cardinal also boasts four nationally ranked singles players. Junior Axel Geller comes in at No. 16 and has defeated two ranked opponents this season at No. 1. Also in the top 25 is Alexandre Rotsaert, who is No. 21 in the country and has a 6-4 record over ranked opponents this season.

Stanford is coming off a 19-7 season and an appearance in the NCAA Super Regional, where it fell to No. 5 Virginia on the road.

Pacific is 0-3 after recent losses to UNLV and New Mexico State in Las Vegas. The Tigers fell 4-3 to the Aggies with the doubles point being the deciding factor.

The Tigers return senior Tadiwa Chinamo, who led the team with a 11-6 singles record that included a 6-0 record in the West Coast Conference to earn an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention. As a team, Pacific finished 6-16 last season with a 3-6 record in conference play.

Pacific has a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series against GCU but the Lopes picked up the most recent win in 2018. The 4-1 win was historic for the Lopes as Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah, now a GCU graduate assistant, became the first Lopes doubles pair to defeat a nationally ranked opponent. The following week, Rajaonah and Fucile became the first ranked doubles team in GCU's Division I history.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes lost 5-2 at NAU and 5-2 at home against San Francisco
Weber picked up two singles wins and now sits at 6-1 on the season.
Fucile and Franke won twice at No. 1 doubles.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will travel to Waco, Texas, to face No. 5 Baylor and Omaha on Feb. 22 and 23, respectively.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

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Players Mentioned

Can Franke

Lorenzo Fucile

Julian Mueller

Mathieu Rajaonah

David Weber

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