GCU wins WAC Tournament in dramatic way

Sunday, May 2

Las Cruces, N.M.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

Photo by: Mike Martinez

5/2/2021 10:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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Lopes erase 2-0 deficit to clinch 2nd NCAA tournament appearance

By: Jerob Moon

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – It came down to the final point in the final singles match and the Grand Canyon men's tennis team prevailed for the WAC Tournament championship against host New Mexico State on Sunday.

The Lopes (8-12) had to battle back for the 4-3 win after dropping the doubles point and digging a 2-0 hole in singles. The team stayed strong mentally and fought back with three singles wins before WAC Freshman of the Year Jonathan Da Silva clinched the Lopes' second NCAA tournament berth in the last three seasons.

"It was an incredible day for the men," GCU head coach Greg Prudhomme said. "Both teams wanted it. We've got a great rivalry with New Mexico State with a lot of respect between the two teams. I knew it was going to be a battle if we wanted to get this championship, but I didn't think we would have to do it losing the doubles so convincingly in 20 minutes and NMSU had some serious momentum heading into singles."

GCU came out flat against the second-seeded Aggies, dropping the doubles point with 6-1 losses at the top two courts. Senior Freddie Grant and freshman Loic Van Zeggelaar also trailed 3-2 when their match was left unfinished.

"We were playing at their courts and the conditions were a little tough," Prudhomme said. "They are more used to the wind they we are. They were taking it to their advantage and got a quick win at Court 3, a match we won last time at home, so we were looking really shaky."

The 1-0 deficit for the Lopes quickly grew into a 2-0 hole with the Aggies winning easily at No. 3 over senior Justin Cvitanovic 6-0, 6-1. But the Lopes were able to turn it around with wins at No. 5 by freshman Jiri Novak and No. 2 by sophomore Mariano Argote.

Novak's win wasn't without some turbulence. He lost a 5-0 lead in the first set to trail 6-5. Novak regrouped and won the set in a tiebreaker before finishing it off with a 6-2 second set. In the court next to him, Argote took his first set 6-3 and finished a close second set 7-5 to tie up the match 2-2.

The Lopes gained their first lead with Grant coming up clutch at No. 6, where he took the first set 6-4 and prevailed 7-6 in the second set with a 7-3 tiebreaker.

Leading 3-2 with two matches to go, all attention turned to GCU's WAC Singles Player of the Year (senior Valentin Lang at No. 1) and the WAC Freshman of the Year (Da Silva at No. 4).

Both Lopes were locked in third sets after Lang dropped his second set while Da Silva won his. Lang faced a 4-3 deficit in the third and ultimately lost 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 to tie the match at 3-3.

Da Silva, the last Lope playing, faced a 4-2 deficit in the third and final set but clawed back to take a 5-4 lead for a chance to serve for the win. Da Silva held a 40-30 advantage when he returned a short shot that NMSU's Corey Clarke hit into the net to clinch the Lopes' WAC Tournament championship.

Da Silva was mobbed by his teammates and lifted onto their shoulders as the Lopes completed the comeback for the program's second NCAA tournament berth.

"Every other court could have gone either way," Prudhomme said. "But from the very first day of practice, we try to instill mental toughness in our players and every day after that. So when we get to the conference tournament, we can handle the adversity. It took the same monumental effort that it did two years ago to beat the same Aggie team, and the guys deserve all the praise in their performance."

The Lopes will join the women's tennis team on Monday to watch the NCAA Selection Show, which will reveal who each team will play in the 64-team tournament. GCU becomes the first WAC school to send its men's and women's teams to the NCAA tournaments since Kansas City in 2017.