Lopes go 2-2 in New Orleans

Saturday, April 7

New Orleans, L.A.

6 a.m.

Grand Canyon

New Orleans

Photo by: Tech and Photo

4/8/2018 2:18:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

FINAL RESULTS

By: Fletcher Like

NEW ORLEANS – After a tough week in Miami the week prior, the Lopes were unable to bounce back and dropped matches to No. 8 LSU and No. 19 Tulane. The Lopes beat Central Arkansas and Houston Baptist, both by 3-2 match scores.

On the first day of competition, the Lopes had their opening match against New Orleans rained out and cancelled. The Lopes responded by beating Central Arkansas 3-2.

The No. 1, 3 and 4 pairings for the Lopes snagged dual wins, all in 2-0 sweeps. The No. 2 and 5 pairings dropped their duals 0-2 to Central Arkansas.

In the second match of the day for the Lopes a rematch with the LSU Tigers awaited. The Lopes dropped a very close 3-2 match to LSU in the first weekend of the season but couldn't flip the script in the second meeting, falling 4-1. The No. 2 pairing of Katie Pyles and Taylor Jarzombek was the only pairing to get a win, doing so in three sets, 22-24, 21-8, 15-12.

Day two saw flipped results as the Lopes lost the first match of the day and won the final match.

Against Tulane, the hosts of the Green Wave Tournament, the Lopes fell 3-2. The match came down to the final two pairings, both coming down to the third and final set.

The No. 1 pairing of Molly Turner and Hannah Towne lost the first set 21-15, won the second set 21-16 but lost the final set 16-14.

The No. 2 pairing of Pyles and Jarzombek took the first set 21-14, lost the second 22-20 and the third 15-12, giving the Green Waves the win.

In the final match of the weekend, the Lopes took down the Houston Baptist Huskies in dramatic fashion. The first match went in favor of the Lopes, with the No. 5 pairing of Jessica Clark and Jamie Walsh winning 2-0.

The No. 1 and No. 2 pairings finished next, in that order, and the Huskies came out with the wins in straight sets in both matches. The Lopes needed to win both of the final two pairings to finish the weekend with a win, and the No. 3 and 4 pairings did so in straight sets, thwarting the Huskies' upset bid.

The Lopes will travel one last time this season, a short one-day, mid-week visit to Los Angeles on April 17 to play USC for the third time this season and Long Beach State for the fourth time in four straight years.