WAC play begins on the road

Saturday, March 19

Las Cruces, N.M.

11:30 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Lamar

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

3/18/2022 1:16:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Lopes begin title defense with 2 matches

By: Jerob Moon


Grand Canyon Lopes (2-11)	vs	Lamar Cougars (8-6)	New Mexico State Aggies (6-12)
		Saturday, March 19 8 a.m.	Sunday, March 20 9 a.m.

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team will begin its defense of WAC regular-season and tournament titles with the start of conference play this weekend in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with matches against Lamar and New Mexico State.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

WAC PRECONFERENCE POLL: The WAC preconference coaches poll was released Tuesday and the Lopes were picked to finish second. GCU earned 30 votes and one first-place vote with conference newcomer Abilene Christian tabbed as the favorite, earning 34 votes and five of seven first-place votes.
SINGLES SUCCESS: Recently, the Lopes have found success at the bottom of the singles lineup. Sophomores Loic Van Zeggelaar and Stanislas De Samucewicz have won their last five singles matches combined at Courts 5 and 6. Van Zeggelaar holds the team lead with five singles wins.
ADDED HOME MATCH: After the weekend in New Mexico, the Lopes will return to GCU Tennis Facility for an added match on Tuesday. The Lopes will host Montana State at 10 a.m. for their second home match of the season.

SCOUTING

Lamar enters conference play as the only team with a winning record, but the Cardinals have lost their last three matches to Texas opponents. Lamar will face Seattle U on Friday before facing GCU. Martin Garcia-Ripoll leads the team with nine singles wins and has partnered with Joshua Taylor in doubles with a team-high 9-3 record.

New Mexico State began its WAC campaign with a 5-1 win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Friday. The Aggies are 2-0 at home and 0-6 in true road matches while four of their six wins came at neutral sites. Louis Menard, in his fifth season with the Aggies, leads the team with five singles wins while sophomore Jordy Visser leads the way with eight doubles wins.