Lopes drop Nebraska in 4-1 finish

Thursday, March 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

4:30 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Nebraska

3/23/2017 6:26:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

By: Imani Suber

PHOENIX - The Grand Canyon beach volleyball team defeated Big 10 foe Nebraska 4-1 Thursday evening. The Lopes improve to 12-3 on the season and 6-1 at home.

How it Happened
GCU started off strong picking up the first victory of the day from Kelli Iverson and Jessica Clark. While the Lopes lost the first set at 14-21 they bounced back taking the next two sets to put GCU up 1-0.

Nebraska quickly answered defeating GCU's Hannah Towne and Jordyn Sanchez in a 23-21, 15-21, 10-15 finish to even the tally at 1-1.

But that was the closest Nebraska would come as GCU dominated the next three duals pulling out victories in two-set finishes as pairings Molly Turner, Tjasa Kotnik and Tyanna Roy, Emily Reinking and Jessica Stansfield, Rebecca Conrad put GCU over the top. The Lopes sealed the victory at 4-1 picking up their sixth home win.

Up Next
The Lopes will take a break before hitting the road to Tucson, Ariz as they resume tournament play on Friday, Mar. 31 - Saturday, April. 1. The Lopes will meet Santa Clara, CSU Bakersfield and Arizona during the weekend. GCU opens tourney play on Friday against Santa Clara with match time set for 2 p.m. MST.

RESULTS
GCU 4 , Nebraska 1

Molly Turner/Tjasa Kotnik (GCU) def. Andi Malloy/Justine Wong-Orantes (NEB) 21-8, 24-22
Olivia Boender/Annika Albrecht (NEB) def. Jordyn Sanchez/Hannah Towne (GCU) 21-23, 21-15, 15-10
Jessica Stansfield/Rebecca Conrad (GCU) def. Lauren Stivrins/Kelli Hunter (NEB) 21-19, 21-15.
Kelli Iverson/ Jessica Clark (GCU) def. Kenzie Maloney/Mikaela Foecke (NEB) 14-21, 21-19, 15-10.
Tyanna Roy/ Emily Reinking (GCU) def. Brooke Smith/Sydney Townsend (NEB) 21-10, 21-15.