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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Lopes earn 11 All-WAC awards
4/29/2021 9:30:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Coach Prudhomme, Puehse take home major WAC awards
The Grand Canyon women's tennis team took home 11 All-WAC awards, featuring two of the conference's three major awards.
GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme earned his fifth WAC Coach of the Year award with the women's team and eighth overall honor, while Lopes sophomore Natasha Puehse was named WAC Singles Player of the Year as the entire GCU starting lineup earned all-conference awards on Thursday.
"It is a very humbling honor to be voted for by my fellow coaches in the conference, but this award is truly representative of our student-athletes and my entire coaching staff," Prudhomme said. Amit Maharaj has done a great job with the teams over the years with hard work on and off the court while Spencer Hing, Mathieu Rajaonah, and Kelsey Huskek have jumped right in and added a lot to the program."
Prudhomme coached the Lopes to their fourth WAC regular-season title in the last seven seasons as GCU finished 6-0 in WAC play. The Lopes started out 1-7 but a midseason turnaround lead to a 9-1 finish and No. 1 overall seed in the WAC Tournament. GCU was dominant in conference play, losing only one point in six matches and shutting out five of six conference opponents with 25 singles wins in straight sets.
Puehse, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Arizona, was dominant all season with a 13-4 record, including straight-set wins in five of six conference matches. The sophomore is on a 10-match winning streak heading into the WAC Tournament and is the first Lope to be named WAC Singles Player of the Year since Priscialla Annoual in 2015.
Along with Puehse, five more Lopes earned honors on the All-WAC first team. Emilia Occhipinti, a senior who used her extra year of eligibility because of COVID-19, played at No. 2 all season and was second on the team with a 12-5 record and a 6-0 mark in conference play. Occhipinti is GCU's all-time Division I-era leader in singles wins with 54 after passing former GCU great Tatum Prudhomme on March 1.Â
At No. 3, Jana Weiss tied for the team lead with a 13-4 singles record and holds a nine-match winning streak. The junior from Austria finished 6-0 in WAC play and only lost one match since Feb. 27.
At No. 4, senior Joely Lomas finished 8-8 in singles in her first year as a Lope with a perfect conference record.
At No. 6, freshman Taylor Andersen went 9-7 overall and 6-0 in WAC play after ending the season on a 7-1 run.
In doubles, two GCU pairs earned first-team honors. The senior duo of Occhipinti and Autum Prudhomme led the team with a 13-4 record and 6-0 mark in WAC play at No. 2. The pair is on an 11-match winning streak that dates back to March 8. At No. 3, Andersen and Lomas finished with an 11-6 record that included five wins in conference play. The duo has gone 9-1 in their last 10 matches of the regular season.Â
The other doubles pair of Puehse and Weiss earned second-team honors at No. 1 with a 4-2 mark in WAC play. Prudhomme also earned second-team honors with seven wins and a 5-1 WAC mark at No. 6 singles.
No. 1 seed GCU earned a first-round bye in this weekend's WAC Tournament. On Saturday, the Lopes will face the winner of No. 4 seed Chicago State vs. No. 5 seed Seattle U at 8 a.m. (Phoenix time).
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GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme earned his fifth WAC Coach of the Year award with the women's team and eighth overall honor, while Lopes sophomore Natasha Puehse was named WAC Singles Player of the Year as the entire GCU starting lineup earned all-conference awards on Thursday.
"It is a very humbling honor to be voted for by my fellow coaches in the conference, but this award is truly representative of our student-athletes and my entire coaching staff," Prudhomme said. Amit Maharaj has done a great job with the teams over the years with hard work on and off the court while Spencer Hing, Mathieu Rajaonah, and Kelsey Huskek have jumped right in and added a lot to the program."
Prudhomme coached the Lopes to their fourth WAC regular-season title in the last seven seasons as GCU finished 6-0 in WAC play. The Lopes started out 1-7 but a midseason turnaround lead to a 9-1 finish and No. 1 overall seed in the WAC Tournament. GCU was dominant in conference play, losing only one point in six matches and shutting out five of six conference opponents with 25 singles wins in straight sets.
Puehse, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Arizona, was dominant all season with a 13-4 record, including straight-set wins in five of six conference matches. The sophomore is on a 10-match winning streak heading into the WAC Tournament and is the first Lope to be named WAC Singles Player of the Year since Priscialla Annoual in 2015.
Along with Puehse, five more Lopes earned honors on the All-WAC first team. Emilia Occhipinti, a senior who used her extra year of eligibility because of COVID-19, played at No. 2 all season and was second on the team with a 12-5 record and a 6-0 mark in conference play. Occhipinti is GCU's all-time Division I-era leader in singles wins with 54 after passing former GCU great Tatum Prudhomme on March 1.Â
At No. 3, Jana Weiss tied for the team lead with a 13-4 singles record and holds a nine-match winning streak. The junior from Austria finished 6-0 in WAC play and only lost one match since Feb. 27.
At No. 4, senior Joely Lomas finished 8-8 in singles in her first year as a Lope with a perfect conference record.
At No. 6, freshman Taylor Andersen went 9-7 overall and 6-0 in WAC play after ending the season on a 7-1 run.
In doubles, two GCU pairs earned first-team honors. The senior duo of Occhipinti and Autum Prudhomme led the team with a 13-4 record and 6-0 mark in WAC play at No. 2. The pair is on an 11-match winning streak that dates back to March 8. At No. 3, Andersen and Lomas finished with an 11-6 record that included five wins in conference play. The duo has gone 9-1 in their last 10 matches of the regular season.Â
The other doubles pair of Puehse and Weiss earned second-team honors at No. 1 with a 4-2 mark in WAC play. Prudhomme also earned second-team honors with seven wins and a 5-1 WAC mark at No. 6 singles.
No. 1 seed GCU earned a first-round bye in this weekend's WAC Tournament. On Saturday, the Lopes will face the winner of No. 4 seed Chicago State vs. No. 5 seed Seattle U at 8 a.m. (Phoenix time).
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Women's Tennis Conference Awards |
|
| Award | Player, School |
| WAC Coach of the Year | Greg Prudhomme, GCU |
| Singles Player of the Year | Natasha Puehse, GCU |
| Freshman of the Year  | Isabelle Bahr, UTRGV |
2020-21 Women's Tennis All-WAC First Team Singles |
|
| Position | Player, School |
| No. 1 | Natasha Puehse, GCU |
| No. 2 | Emilia Occhipinti, GCU |
| No. 3 | Jana Weiss, GCU |
| No. 4 | Joely Lomas, GCU |
| No. 5 | Celia Vaudiau, Tarleton |
| No. 6 | Taylor Andersen, GCU |
2020-21 Women's Tennis All-WAC First Team Doubles |
|
| Position | Player, School |
| No. 1 | Jemi Aguilar/Martha Makantasi, Tarleton |
| No. 2 | Emilia Occhipinti/Autum Prudhomme, GCU |
| No. 3 | Joely Lomas/Taylor Andersen, GCU |
2020-21 Women's Tennis All-WAC Second Team Singles |
|
| School  | Player(s) |
| GCU | Autum Prudhomme |
| New Mexico State | Harsha Challa, Chloe Gavino |
| Tarleton | Mihaela Codreanu, Martha Makantasi |
| UTRGV | Sandra Putz |
2020-21 Women's Tennis All-WAC Second Team Doubles |
|
| School  | Player(s) |
| Dixie State | Rachel Mellor/Juliana Honczaruk |
| GCU | Natasha Puehse/Jana Weiss |
| Tarleton | Jemi Aguilar/Martha Makantasi |
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Women's Wins the WAC Title
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