After an opening weekend in Utah with matches against BYU and Utah the Lopes are back in action on Tuesday when they take on Arizona for two matches at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
PAC-12 OPPONENTS: Along with facing Utah in the opening weekend and two matches against Arizona this week, GCU will also face Arizona State on Feb. 3. The four Pac-12 matches in one season are the most joining Division I back in 2014.
BUSY SCHEDULE: The GCU schedule doesn't get any lighter moving forward. After playing their first four matches in four days GCU will hit the road again this weekend for a pair of matches in Boise, Idaho against Montana on Jan. 23 and Boise State on Jan. 24.
RECORD WATCH: Some Division I records are on the line this season with Lang returning a fifth year. The Frenchman could pass GCU great Lorenzo Fucile in career double wins sitting just six wins behind at 39. Nine wins in singles could also see Lang move to the top of the career singles wins leaderboard. He currently sits at 44 wins behind Fucile at 52 and current GCU graduate assistant Mathieu Rajaonah at 49.
SCOUTING
Arizona State is coming off a 11-3 season in 2020 that included a perfect 6-0 record at home. In the past two seasons the Wildcats are 19-1 at home with their lone loss coming on March 30, 2019 against Arizona State.
Arizona had three players ranked in the Top 125 by the ITA, junior Jonas Ziverts at No. 50, senior Filip Malbasic at No. 54 and freshman Gustaf Strom at No. 105. Strom was also ranked second overall in the ITA Newcomer rankings in the preseason.
LAST TIME OUT
GCU lost a pair of matches on the road to BYU 6-1 and Utah 7-0.
Loic Van Zeggelaar picked up his first collegiate singles win at BYU winning 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Lopes will head to Boise, Idaho for matches against Montana and Boise State on Jan. 23 and 24.