Completed Event: Men's Tennis versus ITF 25k Norman Futures on October 20, 2025 ,
M Tennis
vs ITF 25k Norman Futures
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: WAC
Coro: Tennis teams survive faults to ace WAC
5/6/2021 12:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis, Paul Coro
Clutch closes send GCU men, women to NCAAs with trophies, hot streaks
Grand Canyon's first WAC Tournament women's tennis trophy was a secured spectator at New Mexico State when the men's tennis team's trophy repeat quest was as secure as a feather in Las Cruces' gusty winds.
After the Lopes women's 4-0 title win, the GCU men had gone from trailing host NMSU 2-0 to leading 3-2 to most of the team walking across the court where the championship match had just been knotted at 3-3. Less than two minutes later, those players stormed GCU freshman Jonathan Da Silva for a déjà vu celebration of how the Lopes won the previous men's tournament in 2019.
"You get that once and it probably never happens again," GCU men's and women's tennis head coach Greg Prudhomme said of 2019's 4-3 men's championship win on a third-set tiebreaker. "GCU never quits."
The Lopes do not quit on a game, set, match or a season.
This one attested to that, with GCU pulling off the first WAC Tournament sweep of men's and women's titles since 2017, even though the Lopes men opened the season at 0-7 and the women began 1-7.
Their fortitude is sending both GCU teams to Los Angeles on Friday for the NCAA tournament's first round, where the women will play at No. 4 UCLA at 10 a.m. before Prudhomme heads west for the men's 1 p.m. match at No. 12 USC.
"It just kept building and building, starting quite rough and then turning," Prudhomme said. "Once it turned, it just kept going. Going through the trials and tribulations certainly added to the emotions of the win and made it extra special."
After each team won the 2019 WAC regular-season championship and reached the tournament championship matches, Prudhomme built stronger schedules to prepare them for postseason play. That extended the trials and tribulations over two seasons because the COVID-19 halt did not allow either squad to bear fruit from the challenges last year.
The men went through a 2-23 stretch over two seasons before winning their past seven matches. The women went 3-16 before this 11-1 run.
"I'm sure anybody on the outside was thinking, 'GCU's heyday is over in tennis,' " Prudhomme said. "Fast-forward to now, winning both regular seasons, both conference tournaments, both Players of the Year, both Coaches of the Year, I'm speechless."
The Lopes women won with sweeps in their final six conference matches. They have won 82 of 94 singles and doubles matches during this 11-1 stretch.
Sunday's GCU championship win was as dominant. After the Lopes earned the doubles point, freshman Taylor Andersen, senior Joely Lomas and junior Jana Weiss each won in straight sets to set off a celebration.
"I've been waiting for this moment for five years," said GCU graduate student Emilia Occhipinti, the Italian who returned to repeat her senior season after last season's WAC Tournament was canceled. "I feel like if we didn't play those matches (against difficult opponents), we would not have been here, being this tough mentally and physically. It's amazing to finally win this tournament."
The men's team stayed positive throughout a season in which it lost to teams it had beaten in previous years. It helps to have Dr. Greg Prudhomme, who earned his Psychology doctorate with an emphasis in performance psychology, and a leader like senior Valentin Lang of France.
"One of the real big turns was when Valentin really took charge and responsibility," Prudhomme said. "He helped change the dynamic from within the reins of the team. It was just in time."
They needed it Sunday, when the Aggies used the home-court advantage and adjusted to the winds better to earn the doubles point in 20 minutes and take a 2-0 lead after the first singles match.
"When things don't look good, you just keep fighting and put one foot in front of the other," Prudhomme said. "That kicked in, about 30 minutes into the singles. You could sense that the guys were digging in their heels, one by one."
GCU took a 3-2 lead on senior Freddie Grant's win, but Lang and Da Silva trailed 4-2 in the third sets of the remaining singles matches. Lang lost his match, but quickly joined his teammates in that two-minute span to support the end of Da Silva's match.
"We were fighting, both of us, like crazy," Da Silva said. "Screaming everywhere when we won points. I think I'm grateful for him. Because of him, I thought I could win my match too.
"I would say it's because of him that I won my match. When I was down, we were saying we want it more."
On championship point, Da Silva needed to get to a return that nipped the net and had dropped several feet in front of him.
"If you're not alert and fit at that stage of the match, you're not going to get there," Prudhomme said. "Jonathan earned the ability to go get the ball because of his never-quit-attitude. He kicked into gear, chipped it crosscourt to the guy's backhand and blanketed the net."
The Aggies' volley went into the net, setting off a second GCU celebration on NMSU's courts. After losing five of the teams' first six meetings, the Lopes men have won five in a row against the Aggies.
Da Silva could not fully grasp that history as a freshman from Saint Barthelemy, France. He is just learning about collegiate team tennis, but he knew he had never felt so nervous in a tennis match as he did Sunday.
"I was shaking," Da Silva said. "It was really nervous. It was hard to manage it. I was losing 4-2, a break down in the third set. It was hard to fight, but I did it. It was not my best, but at the moment, it was the best I could do."
Prudhomme and eighth-year assistant coach Amit Maharaj relished an experience that most college tennis coaches will never know. Winning two WAC Tournament titles in a day. Winning consecutive men's conference titles in tight, tense final matches.
"Sunday was too much for one coach to positively bear," Prudhomme said. "It was a great day."
After the Lopes women's 4-0 title win, the GCU men had gone from trailing host NMSU 2-0 to leading 3-2 to most of the team walking across the court where the championship match had just been knotted at 3-3. Less than two minutes later, those players stormed GCU freshman Jonathan Da Silva for a déjà vu celebration of how the Lopes won the previous men's tournament in 2019."You get that once and it probably never happens again," GCU men's and women's tennis head coach Greg Prudhomme said of 2019's 4-3 men's championship win on a third-set tiebreaker. "GCU never quits."
The Lopes do not quit on a game, set, match or a season.
This one attested to that, with GCU pulling off the first WAC Tournament sweep of men's and women's titles since 2017, even though the Lopes men opened the season at 0-7 and the women began 1-7.
Their fortitude is sending both GCU teams to Los Angeles on Friday for the NCAA tournament's first round, where the women will play at No. 4 UCLA at 10 a.m. before Prudhomme heads west for the men's 1 p.m. match at No. 12 USC.
"It just kept building and building, starting quite rough and then turning," Prudhomme said. "Once it turned, it just kept going. Going through the trials and tribulations certainly added to the emotions of the win and made it extra special."
After each team won the 2019 WAC regular-season championship and reached the tournament championship matches, Prudhomme built stronger schedules to prepare them for postseason play. That extended the trials and tribulations over two seasons because the COVID-19 halt did not allow either squad to bear fruit from the challenges last year.
The men went through a 2-23 stretch over two seasons before winning their past seven matches. The women went 3-16 before this 11-1 run.
"I'm sure anybody on the outside was thinking, 'GCU's heyday is over in tennis,' " Prudhomme said. "Fast-forward to now, winning both regular seasons, both conference tournaments, both Players of the Year, both Coaches of the Year, I'm speechless."
The Lopes women won with sweeps in their final six conference matches. They have won 82 of 94 singles and doubles matches during this 11-1 stretch.
Sunday's GCU championship win was as dominant. After the Lopes earned the doubles point, freshman Taylor Andersen, senior Joely Lomas and junior Jana Weiss each won in straight sets to set off a celebration.
"I've been waiting for this moment for five years," said GCU graduate student Emilia Occhipinti, the Italian who returned to repeat her senior season after last season's WAC Tournament was canceled. "I feel like if we didn't play those matches (against difficult opponents), we would not have been here, being this tough mentally and physically. It's amazing to finally win this tournament."The men's team stayed positive throughout a season in which it lost to teams it had beaten in previous years. It helps to have Dr. Greg Prudhomme, who earned his Psychology doctorate with an emphasis in performance psychology, and a leader like senior Valentin Lang of France.
"One of the real big turns was when Valentin really took charge and responsibility," Prudhomme said. "He helped change the dynamic from within the reins of the team. It was just in time."
They needed it Sunday, when the Aggies used the home-court advantage and adjusted to the winds better to earn the doubles point in 20 minutes and take a 2-0 lead after the first singles match.
"When things don't look good, you just keep fighting and put one foot in front of the other," Prudhomme said. "That kicked in, about 30 minutes into the singles. You could sense that the guys were digging in their heels, one by one."
GCU took a 3-2 lead on senior Freddie Grant's win, but Lang and Da Silva trailed 4-2 in the third sets of the remaining singles matches. Lang lost his match, but quickly joined his teammates in that two-minute span to support the end of Da Silva's match.
"We were fighting, both of us, like crazy," Da Silva said. "Screaming everywhere when we won points. I think I'm grateful for him. Because of him, I thought I could win my match too.
"I would say it's because of him that I won my match. When I was down, we were saying we want it more."
On championship point, Da Silva needed to get to a return that nipped the net and had dropped several feet in front of him.
"If you're not alert and fit at that stage of the match, you're not going to get there," Prudhomme said. "Jonathan earned the ability to go get the ball because of his never-quit-attitude. He kicked into gear, chipped it crosscourt to the guy's backhand and blanketed the net."
The Aggies' volley went into the net, setting off a second GCU celebration on NMSU's courts. After losing five of the teams' first six meetings, the Lopes men have won five in a row against the Aggies.
Da Silva could not fully grasp that history as a freshman from Saint Barthelemy, France. He is just learning about collegiate team tennis, but he knew he had never felt so nervous in a tennis match as he did Sunday.
"I was shaking," Da Silva said. "It was really nervous. It was hard to manage it. I was losing 4-2, a break down in the third set. It was hard to fight, but I did it. It was not my best, but at the moment, it was the best I could do."
Prudhomme and eighth-year assistant coach Amit Maharaj relished an experience that most college tennis coaches will never know. Winning two WAC Tournament titles in a day. Winning consecutive men's conference titles in tight, tense final matches.
"Sunday was too much for one coach to positively bear," Prudhomme said. "It was a great day."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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