Lopes sweep Day 1 of Fiesta on Siesta Key Tournament

Friday, April 8

Siesta Key, Fla.

11:30 a.m

Grand Canyon

College of Charleston

4/8/2016 3:58:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

By: Lisa Amsler

SIESTA KEY, Fla. – The Grand Canyon beach volleyball team wrapped up a successful day of matches on Day 1 of the Fiesta on Siesta Key Tournament, defeating Florida Atlantic 3-2 and College of Charleston 4-1. The Lopes improve to 13-3 on the season.

Match 1
Courts 2, 3 and 4 took home the wins against Florida Atlantic, with Emilee Erichsen/Jordyn Sanchez and Chloe Jenkins/Rebecca Conrad forcing three-set matches. Erichsen and Sanchez lost a close first set 19-21 on Court 4, but bounced back with 23-21, 15-13 victories for the match point. Jenkins and Conrad pulled off an outstanding win on Court 3 with a final set score of 15-12 after splitting the first two sets 21-17 and 12-21. Aleksandra Wachowicz/Molly Turner dominated on Court 2 with scores of 21-11, 21-15.

No. 5 Kami Dickerson/Brooke Razo fell 15-21, 19-21 while No. 1 Mackenzie Phelps/Shannon Dugan faced their second loss of the season in a nail-biting finish on a three-set match. The duo was one point away from clinching the win after sets of 21-19, 18-21, but the opposing pair beat them to a 14-16 victory.

Match 2
Kami Dickerson/Brooke Razo bounced back from their loss against Florida Atlantic with a strong 21-14, 18-21, 15-10 victory to start off the second and final match of the day against College of Charleston. Courts 1, 2 and 4 swept their opponents in straight sets. Emilee Erichsen/Jordyn Sanchez won 21-12, 21-16, Aleksandra Wachowicz/Molly Turner won 21-18, 21-13 and Mackenzie Phelps/Shannon Dugan recovered nicely with a solid 21-17, 21-12 victory. Chloe Jenkins/Rebecca Conrad on Court 3 narrowly missed a win after falling 21-19 in the first set and coming down to 27-25 in the second, making it the highest single set score of the season.

"It's really special to be able to travel to Siesta Key as a team to compete at the beach I trained at as a professional beach volleyball player," said head coach Kristen Rohr. "We had girls step up in different spots today and beat two really well coached teams. I was proud of the team effort we showed today. We face two more teams tomorrow and today was a great start to the weekend!"

The Lopes kick off Day 2 of the tournament at 6:30 a.m. MST against Florida International followed by Stetson at 1 p.m.

GCU 3. FAU 2
1. Gabrielle Dischler/Delaney Clesen (FAU) def. Mackenzie Phelps/Shannon Dugan (GCU) 21-19, 18-21,16-14
2. Aleksandra Wachowicz/Molly Turner (GCU) def. Heather Weiss/Brittany Pellitteri (FAU) 21-11, 21-15
3: Chloe Jenkins/Rebecca Conrad (GCU) def. Andrea Galinis/Chelsey Tekavec (FAU) 21-17,12-21,15-12
4. Emilee Erichsen/Jordyn Sanchez (GCU) def. Ashlan Cunningham/Julia Lewkowicz (FAU) 19-21, 23-21, 15-13
5: Natalie Fraley/Nicole Navarro (FAU) def. Kami Dickerson/Brooke Razo (GCU) 21-15, 21-19

GCU 4, CofC 1
1: Mackenzie Phelps/Shannon Dugan (GCU) def. Melissa Morello/Kayla Tronick (CofC) 21-17, 21-12
2: Aleksandra Wachowicz/Molly Turner (GCU) def. Maddie Hills/Taylor Foley (CofC) 21-18, 21-13
3: Krissy Mummey/McKala Rhodes (CofC) def. Chloe Jenkins/Rebecca Conrad (GCU) 21-19, 27-25
4: Emilee Erichsen/Jordyn Sanchez (GCU) def. Katja Ehlers/Kennedy Madison 21-12, 21-16
5: Kami Dickerson/Brooke Razo (GCU) def. Devon Rachel/Allison Beckman (CofC), 21-14, 18-21, 15-10