GCU Posts Competitive Start at USAV Tournament

Saturday, April 11

Hermosa Beach, CA

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Loyola Marymount

Megan Glennie

Photo by: Darryl Webb

4/11/2015 7:51:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

To open the competition at the USAV Hermosa Beach Collegiate Invitational, the Grand Canyon University sand volleyball team went 2-0 in team competition and posted successful first round scores in the pairs tournament. GCU defeated Loyola Marymount (3-10) 3-2 to begin the day before sweeping Concordia-Irvine.

Against Loyola Marymount, four of the Lopes top five matches went three games. Kaitlynn Ausmus and Megan Glennie fell short in their opening set, before making the solid 21-8 comeback in the second, snagging the 15-12 win in the final game.

"We found a way to regroup after yesterday's effort," said head coach Jose Lugo. "We were resilient throughout the match, and that never quit mentality allowed us to push through and get the three points to win it."

Alex Goodman and Becca Conrad won in their opening game 21-14, but LMU snuck back in to win the second game. Conrad and Goodman earned the win in game three 16-14.

Alex Green and Brooke Razo earned the straight sets victory on court three to clinch GCU's victory.

Grand Canyon faced close matches on courts one and two, falling short by only points in both matches. Mackenzie Phelps and Shannon Dugan took their match to three games on court one.

"LMU is the 14th ranked team in the country—their record doesn't speak to how good they are," said Lugo. "Their number one pair has beaten the top pairs from USC, Pepperdine and Florida State. They are truly one of the top pairs in the country, and for Shannon and Kenzie to push them to the brink, that was a well-played match on our end."

When the Lopes faced Concordia-Irvine, they earned all of their wins in two-game matches.

"Playing Concordia was good, it's a team we hadn't seen this season, and it's always great to play teams from different universities all taking part in the sand game," Lugo explained. "It's awesome to see all these schools participating."

In the silver bracket, Green and Razo won the opening round over San Francisco 21-12, 21-12. Conrad and Goodman competed in the bronze bracket, also earning a two-game victory over San Francisco.

"Brooke and Alex Green did a great job in their match vs San Francisco, they covered a lot of ground on defense and stayed simple in serve receive," said Lugo. "Alex Goodman and Becca were great in their match, they served very tough, limiting San Francesco's options on offense."

"It was a great day for GCU, and USA Volleyball has yet again put together a great event for college sand volleyball fans," Lugo concluded. "We are looking forward to getting back on the sand tomorrow against Hawaii, Pepperdine, and another one against San Francisco."

The pairs tournament will continue tomorrow in Hermosa Beach. A full recap will be available at www.gculopes.com.

Silver Bracket
Loyola Marymount 3 (Bush/Taylor) def Boise State 3 (Kingham/Duffin), 21-13, 21-9
Pepperdine 3 (Cook/Knudsen) def Santa Clara 3 (Cresto/Cunningham), 21-2, 21-9
Long Beach State 3 (Hudson/Mackie) def Concordia 3 (Auten/Shider), 21-19, 21-12
Grand Canyon 3 (Green/Razo) def San Francisco 3 (Okaro/McKibbon), 21-12, 21-12

Bronze Bracket
Boise State 5 (Bulda/Osburn) def Loyola Marymount 5 (Scioscia/Castellanos), 21-15, 22-20
Pepperdine 5 (Racich/Quiggle) def Santa Clara 5 (Shepard/Mass), 21-10, 21-9
Long Beach State 5 (Nieto/Thomas) def Concordia 5 (Deters/Tolliver), 21-14, 21-4
Grand Canyon 5 (Conrad/Goodman) def San Francisco 5 (Segota/Keenan), 21-12, 21-17

Team Scores