Lopes travel to Tampa to face 3 ranked teams

Friday, March 3

Tampa, Fla.

7 A.M.

Grand Canyon

Georgia State

3/1/2023 7:11:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

No.6 GCU to play No.10 Georgia State, No.11 Stetson, Tampa, Florida State

By: Adrianna Candelaria

Tampa Classic \| March 3-5, 2023 \| University of Tampa \| Tampa, Fla.

	#6 GRAND CANYON LOPES (3-1)	vs.	#10 Georgia State PANTHERS (4-0)
			Tampa SPARTANS (1-3)
			#11 Stetson HATTERS (4-0)
			#2 Florida State SEMINOLES (5-0)

The Grand Canyon beach volleyball team heads to Tampa to face No.10 Georgia State and Tampa on Friday, and No.11 Stetson and Florida State on Saturday.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

Senior defender Abbie Hughes and sophomore blocker Samaya Morin were selected by the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association as the programs' first ever Pair of the Week after their 4-0 straight-set performances last weekend in southern California.
It wasn't over until the last ball hit the sand against two-time defending national champion USC; although Hughes and Morin (21-19, 21-11) and Evans and Sanchez (21-18, 26-24) finished first. The Trojans kept it interesting on Courts 3 and 5 to even the score before defeating Hansen and Navas (21-17, 21-17) for the dual win last Saturday.
GCU wrapped up Long Beach early, as senior Abbie Hughes and sophomore Samaya Morin finished first (21-19, 21-11), senior Anaya Evans and graduate Cami Sanchez followed (21-18, 26-24), and juniors Allison Hansen and Allanis Navasclinched (21-18, 26-24) the match before Courts 3 and 5 completed play.

SCOUTING GEORGIA STATE

The Panthers came away from opening weekend 4-0, with a 4-1 win over Jacksonville, a 3-2 score against Charleston, a 5-0 sweep against PBA, and a 4-1 victory over Tampa.
Georgia State (the 10th seed) eliminated GCU (the seventh seed) in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Championships in a 3-2 decision, going on to upset TCU (the second seed), before falling to UCLA (third seed), and eventually Loyola Marymount (fourth seed).

SCOUTING TAMPA

The Spartans fell 4-1 to both No.8 Georgia State and College of Charleston last Saturday, before splitting their Sunday with a 3-2 win over Jacksonville and a 3-2 loss to Tusculum in Jacksonville, Fla..
Tampa finished 17-15 last season.

SCOUTING STETSON

Stetson posted a 5-0 sweep over Mercer, and 3-2 wins against Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, and North Florida.
Stetson, ranked 14th last year, was wiped from the 2022 NCAA Championships in the first round by UCLA (third seed) in a 3-2 match.

SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE

Florida State recorded 5-0 victories over Coastal Carolina and Cal Poly, and 4-1 wins against Washington, Florida International and South Carolina so far this season.
The Seminoles (fifth seed) lost in the NCAA Championship match to USC (first seed) in a 3-1 effort last season, upsetting LMU (4th seed) and UCLA (thrid seed) in the process.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU at CSUN/USC

GCU posted 5-0 wins over CSUN and Concordia-Irvine last Friday, recorded a 3-2 victory over No.14 Long Beach State and fell 3-2 to No.4 USC.
Hughes and Morin won all matches, on Court 2, in straight sets including final tallies of 21-19, 21-11 against Long Beach, and 21-19, 21-12 versus the Trojans, as well as Concordia and CSUN opponents by scores of 21-11, 21-12 and 21-16, 21-8 respectively.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU heads to Los Angeles, Calif. to compete with Cal Poly, UCLA, Loyola Marymount and Concordia-Irvine in the Battle for LA Invitational on Mar. 11-12.