Undefeated Lopes head to California for 2 matches

Saturday, February 1

Davis, Calif.

11:30 a.m.

Grand Canyon

UC Davis

Photo by: Jayden Todd

1/31/2025 12:06:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Trips to UC Davis, Santa Clara test Lopes after 3-0 start

By: Braden Dohrmann


Grand Canyon Lopes (3-0)	at	UC Davis Aggies (3-2)	Santa Clara Broncos (2-2)
		Saturday, Feb, 1 11:30 a.m. (Phoenix time)	Sunday, Feb. 2 11 a.m. no live coverage

Grand Canyon heads to Texas for a pair of matches with former WAC foe Stephen F. Austin and WAC opponent UT Arlington.

3 THINGS TO KNOW

WAC IN 2025: With just four WAC teams in men's tennis this season, no regular season championship will be awarded. There will still be a tournament at the end of the season to award the WAC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Seattle U will still travel to Phoenix for a match in the regular season, but it will not count toward a WAC record.
CLOSE CALLS: GCU took each of its first two matches on the final court, defeating New Mexico State and LMU 4-3. In the season opener vs. NMSU, GCU newcomer Matteo Lugari clinched the dual match in three sets on Court 4. In the LMU win, Lopes sophomore Brice Patoux won in three sets on Court 2 to seal the Lopes' victory.
DOMINANCE ON COURT 1: Sophomore newcomer Nikita Volonski has breezed through singles in the two matches he competed in this season. On Court 1, he won in straight sets against his NMSU and LMU opponents, only dropping six games combined.

SCOUTING

UC Davis has opened the season at 1-2 with two road losses and a 4-3 home win over Montana State . The Aggies went 13-10 last season and fell to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West semifinals. The Lopes and Aggies are 1-1 all-time against one another, with the last meeting coming in March of 2018, when GCU won 4-3 in Davis.

Santa Clara opened its year with a 1-3 record, winning a home season opener over Sacramento State 6-1. Since then, a tough schedule has given the Broncos three straight losses. The Broncos competed in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Lexington Regional, where they dropped matches to No. 12 Kentucky and Nebraska. The Lopes lost 4-0 to Santa Clara at home last season.