Big test ahead for No. 8 Lopes


Grand Canyon Lopes (16-5)	vs.	UCLA Bruins (19-1)	Cal Poly Mustangs (16-5)	Loyola Marymount Lions (20-2)	USC Trojans (18-2)
		Friday Apr. 16 2 p.m.	Friday Apr. 16 6:30 p.m.	Saturday Apr. 17 12:30 p.m.	Saturday Apr. 17 3:30 p.m.

The No. 8 Grand Canyon beach volleyball team heads to San Luis Obispo, California to play in the Center of Effort Challenge at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. The Lopes play against four of the best teams in the nation including No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 Cal Poly, No. 5 Loyola Marymount and No. 2 USC.

All five courts will play at the same time and Court 1 will be live streamed at https://bigwest.org/watch/default.aspx?Live=2635&path=calpoly.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

LOPES MOVE UP IN POLLS - GCU came in at No. 8 in this week's AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Coaches Poll.
NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR - Freshman Allanis Navas and graduate student Paula Hoffmann were named GCU's Newcomers of the Year at the 2021 Lopey Awards. The pair has collected a 16-0 record on Court 4 and rank as the top 4's pair in the country.
FIVE TOP-10 TEAMS IN TOURNAMENT - The Center of Effort Challenge hosted by Cal Poly includes five Top-10 ranked teams including No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC, No. 5 LMU, No. 6 Cal Poly and the No. 8 Lopes.

SCOUTING

No. 1 UCLA

The Bruins started the year ranked at No. 2 but defeated the previously No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers twice in a row to put them at the top.
UCLA is 21-1 on the season with its only loss coming against USC.

No. 6 Cal Poly

The 16-5 Mustangs have picked up ranked wins over No. 18 Goergia State, No. 15 Arizona, No. 19 Long Beach State, No. 10 Hawaii (three times) and No. 9 Cal.

No. 5 Loyola Marymount

The Lions are currently 20-4 and has defeated several ranked teams including No. 18 Georgia State, No. 17 Long Beach State (twice), No. 8 Cal, No. 7 Pepperdine (twice).

No. 2 USC

USC is 18-2 so far this season. The Trojans had both of its losses at a 3-2 score against Florida State and LSU.
The twin pair of Nicole and Audrey Nourse rank as the top No. 5 pair in the country wih a 19-1 record.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU is coming off of a 4-0 weekend in Northridge with a pair of wins over both No. 16 Long Beach State and CSUN.

WHAT'S NEXT

Up next, the Lopes will be back in California for the third consecutive weekend, this time at Stanford. GCU is set to play San Jose State, No. 10 Stanford and No. 12 Cal.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Paula Hoffmann

Allanis Navas

Grand Canyon University Athletics