GCU Just Shy of Upsetting No. 7 Nebraska

Thursday, March 27

GCU

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Nebraska

GCU's No. 1 pair of Kenzie Phelps and Kelli Dallmann won in straight sets against No. 7 Nebraska Thursday.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

3/27/2014 6:38:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

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Grand Canyon came up just a few points short of its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent, dropping a 3-2 decision to No. 7 Nebraska at the GCU sand courts Thursday.

The Antelopes, trailing 2-0, picked up a straight set win from No. 1 pair Mackenzie Phelps and Kelli Dallmann, then tied the match with a come-from-behind three-set victory from the No. 2 group of Shannon Dugan and Megan Glennie.

After splitting extra-point sets at No. 3, GCU's Chloe Jenkins and Kami Dickerson lost in a 62-minute three-set marathon.

"It's easy to say we're excited about a great fight and competing against a top 10 team in the country, but when you have a chance to win and come up short, you're always disappointed," said GCU coach Kris Naber.

"That doesn't take anything away from the positives and encouraging things we accomplished today, but it's time we start winning these type of matches," said Naber.

Phelps and Dallmann improved to a team-best 8-2 with a 23-21, 21-18 win over the team of Justine Wong-Orantes/Melanie Keil.

"They continue to dominate," said Naber of her top group. "They do the little things right in practice and it carries over into matches. They're very disciplined on how they do things.

Dugan/Glennie had to fight back from a first-set loss to win 17-21, 21-17, 15-7 over Amber Rolfzen/Kira Larson.

"I'm amazed with their athleticism and how they battled," said Naber.

Jenkins/Dickerson won 26-24 in the first set and dropped the last two, 22-20, 15-8 to Alexa Ethridge/Cecilia Hall.

"They controlled the match at the beginning, which is what we want to see from our No. 3 pair, but they need to figure out when the wheels start falling off how to get them back on," said Naber.

Thursday's match was the first of three straight days of action at the GCU courts. On Friday, GCU takes on Arizona at noon. Nebraska and Arizona go head-to-head at 2 p.m. The first round of a single-elimination pairs tournament is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and will resume Saturday morning at 10.

Nebraska 3, Grand Canyon 2
No. 1, Mackenzie Phelps/Kelli Dallmann (GCU) def. Justine Wong-Orantes/Melanie Keil (Neb.) 23-21, 21-18
No. 2, Shannon Dugan/Megan Glennie (GCU) def. Amber Rolfzen/Kira Larson (Neb.) 17-21, 21-17, 15-7
No. 3, Alexa Ethridge/Cecilia Hall (Neb.) def. Chloe Jenkins/Kami Dickerson (GCU) 24-26, 22-20, 15-8
No. 4, Alicia Ostrander/Brenna Lyles (Neb.) def. Kaitlynn Ausmus/Alex Goodman (GCU) 21-8, 21-13
No. 5, Mary Pollmiller/Kelsey Fien (Neb.) def. Brandy Grant/Britta Forsythe (GCU) 21-12, 21-9
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3