GCU opens season with top-20 rivals


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-0)	vs.	Arizona Wildcats (0-0)	Arizona State Sun Devils (0-0)	Colorado Mesa Mavericks (0-0)
		Friday, Feb. 26 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 All-Day Pairs Event	Friday, Feb. 26 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 All-Day Pairs Event	Friday, Feb. 26 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 All-Day Pairs Event

The No. 7 Grand Canyon beach volleyball team welcomes in-state rivals No. 17 Arizona and No. 20 Arizona State as well as Colorado Mesa for the Canyon Classic to open the 2021 season.

On Friday, the Lopes start the day with Arizona at 11 a.m., followed by Arizona State at 1 p.m. and ending with Colorado Mesa at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the four teams will play a pairs tournament that will begin at 8 a.m. with bracket play and the championship game is set to start at 5 p.m.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

HIGHEST PRESEASON RANKING - After finishing the season with a 10-2 record, the Lopes earned its highest ranking at No. 7 to end the season and began the 2021 season the same way.
TOP-20 HEAVY SCHEDULE - Twelve of the 22 opponents on the Lopes' schedule are ranked in the AVCA Preseason top 20 poll.
KEY RETURNERS - GCU returns several key players, including its No. 1 pair with sophomore Teagan DeFalco and junior Bella Bauman. The Lopes also return juniors Katie Sarber, Taylor Jarzombek and Natalie Honzovicova and sophomores Anaya Evans and Madi Relaz.

SCOUTING

Arizona

Posted a 10-2 record last season with losses to No. 1 LSU and No. 16 TCU.
The Wildcats return 14 players that saw time in the lineup, including top pair Olivia Hallaran and Brooke Burling.

Arizona State

Finished the 2020 season at 4-6.
The Sun Devils return 13 players total, with eight seeing time in the starting lineup.

Colorado Mesa

Only played three games last year before COVID-19 ended the season.
Went 0-3 in the Arizona Invitational with 5-0 losses against Arizona and Washington and a 3-2 loss to Stephen F. Austin.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU had key wins in the 2020 season over No. 12 California, No. 4 USC and No. 17 South Carolina.
Bauman and DeFalco received a 43.0 rating in the collegebeachvb.com MoVR Rankings, making them one of the only 10 pairs with both players in the top 20.
The Lopes' No. 5 pair, Jarzombek and Relaz, went 11-1 with big wins over No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 USC, No. 11 Cal and No. 17 South Carolina.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes' next match is set for Friday, March 5, when they will host Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bella Bauman

Teagan DeFalco

Anaya Evans

Natalie Honzovicova

Taylor Jarzombek

Madi Relaz

Katie Sarber

Grand Canyon University Athletics