GCU faces No. 12 USC in NCAA 1st round

Friday, May 7

Los Angeles, Calif.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

USC

Photo by: Mike Martinez

5/6/2021 4:46:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Lopes battle Trojans in 2nd NCAA trip in 3 seasons

By: Jerob Moon


Grand Canyon Lopes (8-12)	vs.	No. 12 USC Trojans (20-6)
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The Grand Canyon men's tennis team will make its second appearance in the NCAA tournament in three seasons on Friday when the Lopes take on No. 12 USC at 1 p.m. at the David X. Marks Tennis Stadium. The Lopes won the WAC Tournament against New Mexico State 4-3 in dramatic fashion on Sunday with WAC Freshman of the Year Jonathan Da Silva winning the final singles match in three sets. This will be the second all-time meeting between the two schools, as USC defeated GCU in 2016 at home.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

DRAMATIC WAC TOURNAMENT WIN: For the second time in three seasons, the Lopes and Aggies battled to the final point in the WAC Tournament. The Lopes came back from a 2-0 deficit that included losing the doubles point but won four of the last five singles matches for a 4-3 victory.
LOPES LOVE LOS ANGELES: In 2019, the Lopes faced UCLA in their first NCAA tournament appearance at the Division I level. This year, the team will travel 14 miles to the east to take on the Trojans. Seniors Valentin Lang, Justin Cvitanovic and Freddie Grant all played against the Bruins two seasons ago.
WAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Along with the WAC title, the Lopes also had five players named to the WAC All-Tournament Team. In singles, Da Silva, Mariano Argote, Freddie Grant and Jiri Novak made the list with two wins each in the WAC Tournament. In doubles, the No. 2 GCU pair of Argote and Cvitanovic made the team with a 6-3 win over Chicago State.

SCOUTING

USC will host first- and second-round matches at Marks Stadium for the 14th consecutive year after winning the Pac-12 Tournament in a 4-1 final over Arizona State. The Trojans were the preseason No. 1 team in the ITA rankings and have claimed five national championships since 2009 while the No. 12 seed is their lowest since 2007.

USC boasts four nationally ranked players in singles and the No. 10 doubles pair. Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith have been the backbone of the Trojans' doubles success, owning 17 of the team's 19 doubles wins this season. Cukierman and Stefan Dostanic are tied for the team lead in singles with 12 wins each.