Lopes sweep opening day

Saturday, February 22

Moraga, Calif.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

#11 Cal

Photo by: Sofia Jerez

2/22/2020 7:25:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

GCU beats No. 11 Cal, Saint Mary's on the road

By: Sierra Smith

MORAGA, Calif. — The No. 14th ranked Grand Canyon beach volleyball team opened its season with two wins, beating No. 11 Cal 4-1 and Saint Mary's 3-2 on Saturday.

"I'm really proud of our team going into our first match of the season against a strong Cal team and seeing a lot of the things we have been working on being executed," GCU head coach Kristen Rohr said. "We are also learning a lot about what we need to improve on."

Lopes take down No. 11 Cal 4-1

The match began with the fourth and fifth pairs, where junior Taylor Jarzombek and sophomore Madi Relaz claimed the first GCU win on Court 5 in three sets (24-22, 13-21, 15-4) and junior Natalie Honzovicova and sophomore Katie Hess lost 15-21, 18-21 on Court 4.

At No. 2, Lopes seniors Jessica Stansfield and Hannah Towne won 21-17, 21-18 to give GCU a 2-1 lead.

The dual was clinched by sophomore Anaya Evans and junior Katie Sarber, who won in 23-21, 21-15) at No. 3.

The Lopes' No. 1 pair of sophomore Teagan DeFalco and junior Bella Bauman finished he 4-1 victory with a 22-20, 22-24, 15-12 win.

Lopes down host Saint Mary's 3-2

The fourth and fifth pairs gave GCU a 2-0 lead in its next match host Saint Mary's. Honzovicova and Hess won 21-12, 21-14, at No. 4 while Jarzombek and Relaz claimed their second pair win of the day with a 21-19, 21-14 victory.

The second and third pairs for Saint Mary's took wins over the Lopes. Stansfield and Towne won 21-13 in the first set but then lost 21-15 and 15-10. Evans and Sarber also won the first set, 21-16, before dropping tight deciding sets, 21-19 and 16-14.

DeFalco and Bauman dominated 21-11, 21-6 at No. 1 to give GCU a 2-0 start to the season.

"We are not finished with our weekend," Rohr said. "We have two more solid opponents tomorrow (Sunday) that we need to go in and play our game against. We want to just keep getting better and better every time we step in the sand. Today was a good mental test and I like where we are beginning the season."

The Lopes face Santa Clara and San Jose State at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (Phoenix times) on Sunday in San Jose, California.

For live match updates, follow the Lopes on Twitter and Instagram at @GCU_Beach.