Lopes takes on UCSB, Portland State


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-2)	vs	UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (3-0)	Portland State Vikings (0-0)
		Saturday, Jan. 21 11 a.m. (Phoenix time)	Sunday, Jan. 22 11 a.m. (Phoenix time)

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team will leave the state of Arizona for the first time this season when they travel to Santa, Barbara Calif. for a pair of matches against the host Gauchos and Portland State. The Lopes are coming off a pair of losses to Wichita State and No. 15 Arizona in the opening weekend of the season.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

FIRST MATCHES COMPLETE: Head coach Derek Siddiqui and the Lopes got their first matches of 2023 under their belts last weekend. With weather a factor all weekend the match against Wichita State was moved up to Friday night at the GCU Tennis Facility where the Lopes fell 6-0. The following day GCU traveled down to Tucson for a tough matchup against No. 15 Arizona that ended in a 7-0 loss.
ROSATI IMPRESSES: In his first collegiate match freshman Paolo Rosati picked up his first singles win of the season. Against the Shockers, Rosati played at No. 5 singles and was locked in a close match against Wichita State's Luke Bracks. Rosati won the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5) but lost the second set 4-6. With the dual-match already decided Rosati headed to a 10-point tiebreaker in the third set which he won 10-7.
DOUBLES SUCCESS: The Lopes found success in doubles against both the Shockers and Wildcats. On Friday against Wichita State, sophomore Jonathan Da Silva and freshman David Wekesa won 6-4 at the No. 1 position. And on Saturday down in Tucson, sophomore Martim Marujo and freshman William Alsterback picked up a 7-6 win at No. 2.

SCOUTING

UC Santa Barbara began their 2023 season with three wins in Boca Raton, Fla. over Florida Atlantic, South Florida and Rice. The Gauchos are in pursuit of their seventh Big West title in the last eight seasons and will have motivation after falling in the conference tournament final against UC Irvine last year. UCSB will host GCU at 11 a.m. before facing Portland State later in the day on Saturday.

Portland State will open the season against the Gauchos on Saturday before facing the Lopes on Sunday. The Vikings finished at 3-14 last year and a combined 0-10 in road and neutral matches. Their three wins came against non D-I opponents Pacific and Lewis & Clark College and in conference play against Eastern Washington. Head coach Vetu Mam returns for his fourth season with the program.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will travel to Logan, Utah for a pair of matches against Utah State and Weber State on Feb. 4 and 5.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

William Alsterback

Jonathan Da Silva

Martim Marujo

Paolo Rosati

David Wekesa

Grand Canyon University Athletics