"First-timers rarely win here."
 
For Lopes' Head Coach Ed Prudhomme and his Grand Canyon University Club Tennis team, hearing that was actually good news. By the time the organizers of the United States Tennis Association Tennis On Campus National Championships uttered those words to Prudhomme, the Lopes had two wins under their belts en route to placing 47^th in their first time at the prestigious event in the program's 14-year history. The Lopes finished just one notch lower than archrival Arizona State University, who earned the automatic bid to nationals by winning the USTA Southwest Sectionals three weeks earlier.
 
"We were welcomed by the USTA staff after our first match and congratulated on our first time qualifying for nationals," said Prudhomme. "They were impressed by our win at that time, and we wound up with two. Last year's conference runner-up didn't win a match, so we're happy we could make a good first impression that we hopefully can follow up on in coming years."
 
The first-year jitters that apparently hit every "rookie team" understandably hit the Lopes in their first match as the University of Southern California rudely welcomed GCU to Georgia with a 28-13 loss. However, the Lopes showed some pluck in bouncing back for an impressive 27-21 victory over the University of Missouri before ending Day 1 with a loss to the University of North Carolina that sent the Lopes to the Bronze Flight. The Lopes were shut out of the win column in the second day but showed improvement after 11-point losses to both Stanford University and University of California-Davis by staying with Penn State University before falling, 21-16. Undeterred, the Lopes ended on a great note, downing Northeastern University (Massachusetts), 23-19, in their final Bronze Flight match Sunday to cap off their most successful season ever.
 
"The kids played so hard and just missed out on a couple more wins, so to see them finish strong was a great sign of their moxie," said Prudhomme. "This outing gives us a seat at the big table and validates that we have a great program. All the recruits I have been working with for next year are impressed and excited to join the program."