What were you doing 14 years ago?
 
In Lopes' Head Coach Ed Prudhomme's case, he was laying the foundation for a nationals dream.
 
Fast forward to a February afternoon in 2025 at Phoenix Tennis Center, where the dream of the Grand Canyon University Club Tennis team was finally realized with a 2^nd-place finish in the Gold Flight at the United States Tennis Association's Southwest Sectional Tournament. The runnerup finish officially punched the Lopes' ticket for Rome, Georgia – site of the 2025 USTA Tennis On Campus National Championships beginning April 3 for the first time in the program's history.
 
"In previous close attempts at earning a bid, I could sense nervousness and tension from our players," said Prudhomme. "This year, there was a calm confidence. They just went out and performed. Anything that happened - on or off the court - didn't distract them from winning their matches. We were much tougher mentally."
 
The Lopes were nothing short of dominant in marching through Friday's and Saturday's pool play rounds, scoring 30 points against all three opponents – University of Arizona 'C' Friday afternoon, then University of New Mexico 'B' and New Mexico State University 'A' Saturday morning. The Lopes also didn't allow any of the three teams more than 11 points during the matches.
 
Despite only having an hour or so after their last pool-play match and the start of Gold Flight action, there were no signs of fatigue as the momentum carried over. The Lopes ended Saturday with another win over the Wildcats' 'C' team to open the flight by the same 30-11 score that they beat U of A Friday. Waiting for the Lopes Sunday morning in the second flight match was Arizona's 'B' team, who fared no better, dropping a 30-17 match to the Lopes and sending GCU to the championship match against Arizona State University's 'A' squad. The magic finally ended there as the Sun Devils triumphed, 27-18, but that didn't dampen the Lopes' celebration in accomplishing the nationals feat and ending over a decade of frustration for their coach.
 
"I don't think relieved would be the right emotion. Excitement is what comes to mind first," said Prudhomme. "Personally, I have wanted this for our program for a long time. We have always had great kids here at GCU and I've been disappointed that none of them have gotten to experience a trip to nationals. I am excited for this year's team and all of those that came before that GCU finally did it. Many former players were in contact with me via text during the entire tournament and were as excited as we were to eventually do it."
 
On top of the Lopes' 'A' team's accomplishments, both GCU's 'B' and 'C' teams reached the Silver Flight of the tournament, finishing 2^nd and 3^rd, respectively, after Sunday's action.
 
The Lopes' final tuneup before the Georgia trek happened last weekend in Tucson as they won three of their five matches at the annual Wildcat Winter Classic – including beating the hosts from the University of Arizona. They'll spend the next month focusing on the trip to Peach State for nationals, which will begin April 3 and crown a champion on Saturday, April 5.