Sweep puts Lopes in WAC title match

Saturday, May 1

Las Cruces, N.M.

8 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

Photo by: Mike Martinez

5/1/2021 3:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

GCU will face NMSU for championship, NCAA tournament berth

By: Jerob Moon

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The top-seeded Grand Canyon women's tennis team swept Seattle U in a WAC Tournament semifinal on Saturday and will face host New Mexico State for the championship on Sunday.

The Lopes (11-8) advanced to the championship match off three singles wins after taking the doubles point over the Redhawks (1-15).

"The girls started really sharp today," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "They jumped on top of Seattle early in the doubles with two convincing wins and they kept the momentum going by getting the first set on every court in singles. That's exactly what we could have hoped for and the girls were ready to be out there as long as the match took. But I'm happy to get off the court sooner rather than later so they can leave it all on the court tomorrow."

The Lopes began the one-hour, 50-minute match by taking the doubles point behind a pair of 6-1 wins at the top two courts. All-WAC second-team doubles honorees Natasha Puehse and Jana Weiss won 6-1 against Seattle's Hannah Gianan and Michelle Bader to kick off the match. On the court to their right, it was GCU seniors Autum Prudhomme and Emilia Occhipinti who clinched the point with a 6-1 win that extended their winning streak to 12 matches.

In singles, the Lopes took all six first sets and continued to put pressure on Seattle U. Unlike previous matches where the top three singles players provided the most support, it was redshirt senior Joely Lomas at No. 4 who finished first with a 6-2, 6-0 win that put GCU ahead 2-0.

"Joely is a great story for us because she was definitely a late starter after finishing up her rehab from her knee surgery early in the semester," Prudhomme said. "So that was a great bonus for us, and she even started down a game, 0-1 or 1-2, and then just jumped on top of the girl. So, to get that quick 2-0 lead and we already have sets in hands on the other courts, I think that helped spur a quicker finish that what may have been."

With that 2-0 lead, the Lopes finished off the Redhakws with two wins from the top two singles players. Weiss, at No. 3, and Puehse, at No. 1, finished the match with straight-set wins that put them both at 14-4 for the season.

The 4-0 win advances the Lopes to the championship match of the WAC Tournament for the second time in three years. GCU will face No. 2 seed and host New Mexico State (6-13) on Sunday at 8 a.m. (Phoenix time). The Lopes are looking to avenge a 4-3 loss to the Aggies in the 2019 WAC final and punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time in Division I program history.