Grand Canyon opened play at the 2014 Beach Collegiate Challenge at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., with a 4-1 victory over Cal State Northridge Friday.
It was the program's first win over another NCAA Division I opponent.
GCU (2-1) takes on Bakersfield (11 a.m.) and Pepperdine (2 p.m.) Saturday, prior to the start of the single-elimination pairs tournament at 4:30 p.m.
All four victorious pairs won in convincing fashion.
Mackenzie Phelps and
Kelli Dallmann won at No. 1 21-15, 21-11, improving to 3-0 on the season. At No. 2,
Shannon Dugan and
Megan Glennie also upped their mark to 3-0 with a 21-13, 21-11 win.
Chloe Jenkins and
Kami Dickerson picked up a victory at No. 4 21-10, 21-19. At No. 5,
Britta Forsythe and
Brandy Grant won 21-16, 21-15.
"It was a great way to start the weekend," said GCU coach Kris Naber. "I think we learned a lot from last weekend and we were able to get teams out of system and scrambling."
At No. 3,
Kaitlynn Ausmus and
Alex Goodman lost a hard-fought three-setter, 21-19, 20-22, 13-9.
GCU 4, CSUN 1