Lopes finish off perfect WAC season

Sunday, April 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UT Arlington

4/14/2024 3:35:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU clinches outright regular-season title, finishes 7-0 conference season

By: Josh Hauser

Grand Canyon ensured it would not be sharing its WAC regular-season title, completing a 7-0 conference schedule by defeating UT Arlington 6-1 on Sunday at GCU Tennis Facility.

"They've done an incredible job," GCU second-year head coach Katarina Adamovic said. "I'm so, so proud of this team. It's been 21 matches, and it's been special every time I've stepped on the court with them. Just an amazing group."

Aside from completing a perfect WAC schedule and logging the team's 19th win of the season, the Lopes' 10th consecutive victory also marked a special day at the courts to honor graduate Natasha Puehse and senior Santa Strombacha in their final home matches.

"Tash has been here five years," Adamovic said. "She has been the heart and soul of this program for five long years. Seeing her leave such a big legacy behind her and be a part of creating something really special here, you don't get to see that very often. To see her having this type of season and the way it unfolded for her and everybody else is just so special. I'm so happy for her.

"Santa, same thing. She's been here for three years. Both of them have just been incredible for this program. Some of the best athletes at GCU, for sure. And the legacy they're leaving behind is something that the generation after them will look at them and say, 'Wow, this is what these two did?' In my two years I've been here, nothing we've done would've been done if there was no Tash and Santa. A lot of credit goes to them for this team being what they are today."

Puehse is tied for the program's all-time record with 64 singles wins. Strombacha won her 49th singles match on Sunday. Together, the duo is GCU's first nationally ranked doubles team.

Puehse and Strombacha had the toughest test in doubles but logged a 6-4 win to complete a doubles sweep that staked the Lopes to a 1-0 lead in the match.

Strombacha won quickly on Court 2 to get singles play off on the right foot. UT Arlington won on Court 1 to get back within a point.

With a 2-1 lead, the Lopes methodically closed out each remaining court to post the 6-1 victory, extending GCU's Division I-era for single-season wins with a 19-2 record.

The remaining matches finished in order as Lopes wins. Freshman Iva Sepa won 6-1, 7-6 on Court 3. Freshman Elizaveta Morozova followed suit with a 6-3, 7-6 win on the fourth court.

GCU had already clinched the match, but the final two courts required a third set. Freshman Valeriia Krokhotina and sophomore Dania Deaifi each won third-set battles to pick up wins on Court 5 and 6, respectively.

The Lopes impressive regular season came to a close, as top-seeded GCU turns its attention to the WAC Tournament next week in Harlingen, Texas.

"We've known our potential since the beginning of the year," Adamovic said. "We have a very special group of young women. This regular season was good, but we still need to get better. The WAC Tournament is what the ultimate goal is. We've got to get better in the next couple of days and clean up some things and get ready. Everybody wants a taste of us. We've got to be ready."

Tarleton State, the team GCU faced in the championship match of last year's WAC Tournament, won its Sunday match 4-3 to improve to 6-1 in conference play. While the Lopes already had clinched the top seed in the WAC Tournament, the Texans' win forced GCU to win Sunday to claim the outright title.

GCU, the reigning tournament champions, will open WAC Tournament play in the quarterfinal round. As the top seed, the Lopes will play No. 8 seed Utah Tech, which went winless in conference play. The match is set for 10 a.m. (Phoenix time) on Thursday in Harlingen. Semifinal and championship rounds would be the same time for GCU on Friday and Saturday, respectively. A tournament title would return the Lopes to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year and third time in four years.