Lopes defeat No. 10 TCU, UAB

Friday, March 12

Gulf Shores, Ala.

8 a.m. MST

Grand Canyon

TCU

Photo by: Tech and Photo

3/12/2021 8:56:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

GCU goes 2-0 on Day 1 in Gulf Shores

By: Sierra Smith

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The No. 11 Grand Canyon beach volleyball team moved to 6-1 after getting a pair of wins on Day 1 of the March to May Tournament with victories over No. 10 TCU 3-2 and UAB 4-1.

"I'm very proud of the way our girls played today," head coach Kristen Rohr said. "We had to show up and play after flying across the country the day before. They fought hard and brought the energy needed to get two wins over two great teams."

Lopes defeat No. 10 TCU 3-2

The Lopes took a 2-0 lead on TCU with freshman Allanis Navas and graduate transfer Paula Hoffmann winning 21-10, 21-10 on Court 4 and freshman Alina Randall and junior Katie Sarber beating the Horned Frogs on Court 5 21-17, 21-19.

TCU evened the match after the Lopes' No. 1 pair sophomore Teagan DeFalco and junior Bella Bauman fell 19-21, 18-21 and sophomore pair Anaya Evans and Madi Relaz lost 11-21, 18-21.

Junior Taylor Jarzombek and freshman Allison Hansen secured the match win in a three-set battle on Court 3 21-14, 13-21, 15-10.

Lopes take down UAB 4-1

The match against the University of Alabama-Birmingham began with a Court 4 win by the undefeated (7-0) Navas and Hoffmann 21-11, 21-8.

On Court 5, Randall and Sarber lost the first set in extra points 23-25, forced a third set after winning 21-18, but fell in the final set 15-11 to even the score at 1-1.

Defalco and Bauman regained the lead after beating the Blazer's No. 1 pair in three sets 21-12, 22-24, 15-9.

The dual was clinched by the Lopes' No. 3 pair Jarozmbek and Hansen with a two-set win 21-17, 21-18.

The final pair win of the day came from Court 2 by Evans and Relaz 21-15, 21-19.

Up next, the Lopes face No. 2 Florida State at 9 a.m. (Phoenix time) and No. 20 Tulane at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) on Saturday.