Top seed GCU faces Chicago State in WAC semi

Saturday, May 1

Las Cruces, N.M.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Chicago State

4/30/2021 11:50:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Lopes win would earn spot in WAC Tournament championship dual

By: Jerob Moon


No. 1 Grand Canyon Lopes (6-12)	vs.	No. 5 Chicago State Cougars (6-15)

The top-seeded Grand Canyon men's tennis team will kick off the WAC Tournament in a Saturday semifinal against No. 4 seed Chicago State at the NM State Tennis Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Lopes defeated Chicago State 6-1 in the regular season at home on March 26.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

MAJOR WAC AWARDS SWEEP: The Lopes swept all three major WAC awards this season. Head coach Greg Prudhomme earned his third WAC Coach of the Year award with the men's team while senior captain Valentin Lang was named WAC Singles Player of the Year after finishing 7-9 at the top singles position. Jonathan Da Silva was named WAC Freshman of the Year with a 3-0 record in WAC play.
WINNING STREAK: GCU carries a five-match winning streak into the WAC Tournament. The winning streak contains three wins against WAC opponents and nonconference wins against UC Riverside and Northern Arizona at home that wrapped up the regular season.
NINE ALL-WAC AWARDS: Along with the major WAC awards, the Lopes took home nine All-WAC honors. GCU earned all three first-team spots in doubles and four first-team singles honors. Lang and Jiri Novak were honored on the second team for doubles while Mariano Argote and Justin Cvitanovic made the second team in singles.

SCOUTING

Chicago State enters the WAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed after going 0-3 in conference play. The Cougars lost 4-3 to Seattle U and 6-1 to New Mexico State along with the 6-1 loss to the Lopes. The team ended the regular season with three wins in their final five matches, defeating Eastern Illinois, Prairie State and Saint Louis. Jakub Zamorski earned All-WAC second-team Singles honors while Javier Sanchez Pradillo and Pedro Alvarez were named to the All-WAC second team for doubles.