Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Elizabeth Tinajero
Previews: GCU sports commence en masse
1/20/2021 9:00:00 AM | General, Paul Coro
Delayed fall sports seasons converge with Lopes' spring sports
Grand Canyon athletic competition shifted into gear for basketball seasons in November, but the spring semester is jam-packed with the usual sports and delayed seasons for fall sports. Most of the programs are on the cusp of season openers in the coming days or weeks while some already got underway this month.
GCULopes.com previews the teams:
Beach volleyball
The beach volleyball team followed a 20-win season with a 10-2 start to last season and was ranked No. 7 nationally when the season was canceled because of COVID-19. The desire to reach the NCAA tournament continues with U.S. Beach Collegiate National Team members Bella Bauman and Teagan DeFalco returning as GCU's top pair. Head coach Kristen Rohr added graduate transfers Justine Spann (Colorado indoor volleyball) and Paula Hoffman (Eckerd indoor and beach) to a team with 10 returning players.
Cross country
The cross country teams found a creative way to get competition with a virtual fall meet but return to meet action on Feb. 1 as a build-up to the Feb. 27 WAC Championships in Seattle. Led by sophomore Rylan Stubbs and junior Jacob Lewis, head coach Sara Slattery's group returns five top-40 finishers on the men's side. Her women's team made a major addition in freshman Hana Hall joining a team that finished third at the conference meet last year. Senior Elizabeth Balsan took eighth in the fall of 2019 and is joined by senior McKayla Cordova and junior Ana Alvarez-Tostado.
Golf
The golf teams are loaded with experienced talent to chase WAC titles. Senior Trevor Lampson had a much-improved junior season with a team-best 71.3 stroke average and added offseason success. He and senior Michael Salazar, the 2019 WAC Tournament runner-up, lead head coach Mark Mueller's team for a seven-tourney slate. The women, guided by head coach Lauren Giesecke, return an entire regular lineup of junior Payton Fehringer, sophomore Carmen Belmonte and seniors Alexis Linam, Siripatsorn Patchana and Carolina Sandstrom but added more depth. Patchana led the WAC in scoring average (72.3) last season and won the 2018 WAC Tournament.
Softball
Last season's top seven hitters return for head coach Ann Pierson's softball team, which opens its season on Feb. 11. Last year's lineup was led by junior center fielder Gianni Nicoletti (.380) and sophomore shortstop Kristin Fifield (.355), who ended the halted season on an eight-game hitting streak. Senior catcher Lilly Bishop topped last year's team for home runs (four) and RBIs (20). GCU brings back its top two pitchers, seniors Lexy Coons and Ryan Denhart, but the roster was strengthened with the addition of six freshmen and Penn transfer Tabitha Dyer.
Men's soccer
The men's soccer team, which opens its season Wednesday, looks to recapture the form of two seasons ago, when GCU cracked the national top 25 and reached the NCAA tournament. Of the 10 players who started more than 10 games last season, eight return with junior goalkeeper George Tasouris, junior midfielder Esai Easley and senior defender Ariel Aguas logging the most minutes. Leading scorers Justin Rasmussen, a senior midfielder, and Bert Wilton, a junior forward, are part of the returning core for Hall of Fame head coach Schellas Hyndman's final season before retirement.
Women's soccer
Head coach Chris Cissell enters his first season as the GCU women's soccer head coach with a bolstered offense that returns five of last season's Lopes goal scorers, including co-leaders Dani Babb and Camryn Larson, key transfers Lindsey Prokop (WAC Freshman of the Year from Kansas City) and Marleen Schimmer (a 17-point scorer for Arizona State last season). Senior Hannah Edwards leads the defense after compiling 57 starts at GCU, which opens its season Feb. 4 against Arizona at GCU Stadium.
Swimming and diving
The men's and women's swimming and diving seasons are underway with six Lopes (freshman Madeline Vindiola and juniors Adrian Curbela Tejera, Robyn Edwards, Florent Janin, Sam McKenzie and Emily Muteti) holding conference-best times in their events as they build toward the Feb. 17-20 WAC Championships in St. George, Utah. Last season, head coach Steve Schaffer's squads finished third in the WAC in men and women with Sara Lameiro Castellanos, then a freshman, qualifying in platform diving for the NCAA Championships that were canceled.
Tennis
Head coach Greg Prudhomme is nine wins from his 150th victory at the helm of the women's team and senior Emilia Occhipinti sits two singles wins from passing his older daughter, Tatum, for the the program's Division I-era singles wins record. Occhipinti is joined by Drake transfer Joely Lamas, who has 101 singles and doubles wins combined. Prudhomme's men's team will take on four Pac-12 opponents this season with a 13-man roster that includes eight newcomers. Senior Valentin Lang is six wins away from setting the GCU DI-era record for doubles wins.
Track and field
The women's track and field team remains the defending WAC outdoor champions from 2019, when Niki Xydona was the Outstanding Field Athlete for head coach Tom Flood. The Lopes boasts the top pole vaulters in seniors Alyson Schwartz and Madelyn Lundberg with senior runners Naudia Dawson, Dora Filipovic and Alexa Hokanson. The men have a talented junior class with sprinter Adam Knuff, sprinter/jumper/hurdler Trey Johnson and thrower Jordan Okyere. Johnson won Outstanding Track Athlete for the indoor WAC meet last year. Senior Jesse Newman finished ninth nationally in the javelin in 2018.
Men's volleyball
The men's volleyball team did not get to finish a season in which it was ranked 11th nationally last year but head coach Matt Werle's squad opens this one at No. 9 UCLA on Jan. 29 as a 10th-ranked team. The Lopes earned their highest preseason ranking in program history after six underclassmen led the team in scoring last year. All-America honorable mention Camden Gianni, with improved ball control, and Christian Janke, with a refined serve, return as a dynamic outside hitting duo playing off GCU assists and digs leader Heath Hughes at setter.
Women's volleyball
Coming off a program breakthrough with a 24-6 season, the women's volleyball team returns eight of its top nine scorers for a conference-only schedule that begins at home Monday and Tuesday against Tarleton. Senior outside Yeny Murillo was last season's scoring leader (361.5 points) while sophomore setter Klaire Mitchell and junior middle blockers Kaira Moss and Annabelle Kubinski making Preseason All-WAC. Head coach Tim Nollan's Lopes tied for the 26th nationally in winning percentage (.800) last season and reached the WAC Tournament championship match.
GCULopes.com previews the teams:
Beach volleyball
The beach volleyball team followed a 20-win season with a 10-2 start to last season and was ranked No. 7 nationally when the season was canceled because of COVID-19. The desire to reach the NCAA tournament continues with U.S. Beach Collegiate National Team members Bella Bauman and Teagan DeFalco returning as GCU's top pair. Head coach Kristen Rohr added graduate transfers Justine Spann (Colorado indoor volleyball) and Paula Hoffman (Eckerd indoor and beach) to a team with 10 returning players.
Cross country
The cross country teams found a creative way to get competition with a virtual fall meet but return to meet action on Feb. 1 as a build-up to the Feb. 27 WAC Championships in Seattle. Led by sophomore Rylan Stubbs and junior Jacob Lewis, head coach Sara Slattery's group returns five top-40 finishers on the men's side. Her women's team made a major addition in freshman Hana Hall joining a team that finished third at the conference meet last year. Senior Elizabeth Balsan took eighth in the fall of 2019 and is joined by senior McKayla Cordova and junior Ana Alvarez-Tostado.
Golf
The golf teams are loaded with experienced talent to chase WAC titles. Senior Trevor Lampson had a much-improved junior season with a team-best 71.3 stroke average and added offseason success. He and senior Michael Salazar, the 2019 WAC Tournament runner-up, lead head coach Mark Mueller's team for a seven-tourney slate. The women, guided by head coach Lauren Giesecke, return an entire regular lineup of junior Payton Fehringer, sophomore Carmen Belmonte and seniors Alexis Linam, Siripatsorn Patchana and Carolina Sandstrom but added more depth. Patchana led the WAC in scoring average (72.3) last season and won the 2018 WAC Tournament.
Softball
Last season's top seven hitters return for head coach Ann Pierson's softball team, which opens its season on Feb. 11. Last year's lineup was led by junior center fielder Gianni Nicoletti (.380) and sophomore shortstop Kristin Fifield (.355), who ended the halted season on an eight-game hitting streak. Senior catcher Lilly Bishop topped last year's team for home runs (four) and RBIs (20). GCU brings back its top two pitchers, seniors Lexy Coons and Ryan Denhart, but the roster was strengthened with the addition of six freshmen and Penn transfer Tabitha Dyer.
Men's soccer
The men's soccer team, which opens its season Wednesday, looks to recapture the form of two seasons ago, when GCU cracked the national top 25 and reached the NCAA tournament. Of the 10 players who started more than 10 games last season, eight return with junior goalkeeper George Tasouris, junior midfielder Esai Easley and senior defender Ariel Aguas logging the most minutes. Leading scorers Justin Rasmussen, a senior midfielder, and Bert Wilton, a junior forward, are part of the returning core for Hall of Fame head coach Schellas Hyndman's final season before retirement.
Women's soccer
Head coach Chris Cissell enters his first season as the GCU women's soccer head coach with a bolstered offense that returns five of last season's Lopes goal scorers, including co-leaders Dani Babb and Camryn Larson, key transfers Lindsey Prokop (WAC Freshman of the Year from Kansas City) and Marleen Schimmer (a 17-point scorer for Arizona State last season). Senior Hannah Edwards leads the defense after compiling 57 starts at GCU, which opens its season Feb. 4 against Arizona at GCU Stadium.
Swimming and diving
The men's and women's swimming and diving seasons are underway with six Lopes (freshman Madeline Vindiola and juniors Adrian Curbela Tejera, Robyn Edwards, Florent Janin, Sam McKenzie and Emily Muteti) holding conference-best times in their events as they build toward the Feb. 17-20 WAC Championships in St. George, Utah. Last season, head coach Steve Schaffer's squads finished third in the WAC in men and women with Sara Lameiro Castellanos, then a freshman, qualifying in platform diving for the NCAA Championships that were canceled.
Tennis
Head coach Greg Prudhomme is nine wins from his 150th victory at the helm of the women's team and senior Emilia Occhipinti sits two singles wins from passing his older daughter, Tatum, for the the program's Division I-era singles wins record. Occhipinti is joined by Drake transfer Joely Lamas, who has 101 singles and doubles wins combined. Prudhomme's men's team will take on four Pac-12 opponents this season with a 13-man roster that includes eight newcomers. Senior Valentin Lang is six wins away from setting the GCU DI-era record for doubles wins.
Track and field
The women's track and field team remains the defending WAC outdoor champions from 2019, when Niki Xydona was the Outstanding Field Athlete for head coach Tom Flood. The Lopes boasts the top pole vaulters in seniors Alyson Schwartz and Madelyn Lundberg with senior runners Naudia Dawson, Dora Filipovic and Alexa Hokanson. The men have a talented junior class with sprinter Adam Knuff, sprinter/jumper/hurdler Trey Johnson and thrower Jordan Okyere. Johnson won Outstanding Track Athlete for the indoor WAC meet last year. Senior Jesse Newman finished ninth nationally in the javelin in 2018.
Men's volleyball
The men's volleyball team did not get to finish a season in which it was ranked 11th nationally last year but head coach Matt Werle's squad opens this one at No. 9 UCLA on Jan. 29 as a 10th-ranked team. The Lopes earned their highest preseason ranking in program history after six underclassmen led the team in scoring last year. All-America honorable mention Camden Gianni, with improved ball control, and Christian Janke, with a refined serve, return as a dynamic outside hitting duo playing off GCU assists and digs leader Heath Hughes at setter.
Women's volleyball
Coming off a program breakthrough with a 24-6 season, the women's volleyball team returns eight of its top nine scorers for a conference-only schedule that begins at home Monday and Tuesday against Tarleton. Senior outside Yeny Murillo was last season's scoring leader (361.5 points) while sophomore setter Klaire Mitchell and junior middle blockers Kaira Moss and Annabelle Kubinski making Preseason All-WAC. Head coach Tim Nollan's Lopes tied for the 26th nationally in winning percentage (.800) last season and reached the WAC Tournament championship match.
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