Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Jack Gilday
And the 2025 Lopeys go to ...
4/14/2025 9:00:00 PM | General, Paul Coro
GCU Athletics' annual award show honors year of standout performances
Grand Canyon's student-athletes gathered as teams Monday night, but this time the attire was formal and the format was a celebration of what they already have achieved when they are in GCU uniforms.
For the winners of the annual Lopey Awards honoring GCU Athletics' achievements, it was yet another accomplishment on a pile of Lopes successes from the past year. The purple carpet rolled out at Global Credit Union Arena, where hundreds of GCU student-athletes, coaches and staffers met to appreciate how the university community and GCU Athletics are bound.
"This past year has been one of the most exciting for GCU and for our Athletics programs," GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. "We won a total of 13 championships last year. That's a university record. Four programs advanced in the NCAA Tournament — men's basketball, baseball, softball, men's volleyball making it all the way tot the semifinals of their tournament. We had seven All-Americans last year and, of course, we earned another WAC Commissioner's Cup. Congratulations to all of you on the success, but it's continued into this year.
"Our theme this past year was 'We believe.' We believe we have everything it takes to succeed. We believe that God has placed us here in the longest Christian university in the country to do His work and to be His hands and feet with a platform of athletics. We also believe it takes an entire university and an entire community to win championships.
GCU President Brian Mueller gave praise to Boggs for navigating the complicated current state of collegiate athletics and the Lopes coaches, staffers and spirit programs for their commitment before heaping praise on the stars of the night — the GCU student-athletes.
"We don't take it for granted that you chose Grand Canyon," Mueller said. "We are glad that you're here. We are very grateful for your performance and we're especially grateful for the way you represent the university, not only on the playing field but in our community. It exemplifies excellence, but it also exemplifies the mission that we have to serve others."
Camden Gianni, men's volleyball
Gianni ended a heralded career as an All-America first-team honoree on GCU's first NCAA Final Four team that went 26-5, setting a program record for wins. The Carlsbad, California, earned All-NCAA Tournament Team and All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first-team honors as well while setting the GCU record for career aces (211). Gianni's 1,396 career kills rank second in program history.
After a life-threatening heart surgery delayed his GCU career start, Gianni played 117 matches as a Lope with 3.5 kills per set and a career .286 hitting percentage. He also has been a member of USA Volleyball teams.FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Ashley Trierweiler, softball
Trierweiler led the nation with 94 hits and finished fourth for batting average at .456 to lead GCU to WAC regular-season and postseason championships and the program's first NCAA regional final. In her first season as a first baseman, the native of Belmont, California, became GCU's first WAC Player of the Year and earned All-West Region second-team recognition.Â
The graduate student tallied 27 mutli-hit games, 37 RBIs with 15 doubles, two triples and two home runs while stealing 25 bases on 27 tries. She was the national leader in career batting average among active players in her 2024 season. Her on-base percentage was .509, and her slugging percentage hit .578 after she started every game for the record-setting 50-13 Lopes.Â
Isaac Lyon, baseball
Lyon emerged as the starting rotation's steadiest pitcher in 2024, going 6-1 with a team-high 81 2/3 innings after throwing just 13 2/3 innings as a freshman in 2023. The right-hander from Utah dropped his ERA by more than three runs to 3.97 in 2024, when he was called upon for rare relief at the Tucson Region and threw three shutout innings to beat host Arizona.
In WAC play, Lyon was 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA (seventh best in the conference) to be named to the All-WAC first team. He threw five strikeouts for every walk as a sophomore in 17 appearances.Â
Joanna Archer, track and field
Archer won the WAC 800-meter championship and advanced to the NCAA Championships with a season-best time of 2 minutes, 3.52 seconds in the NCAA West preliminary. The native of Guyana finished 23rd nationally, improving upon her 2022 times after redshirting the 2023 outdoor season.
Archer also took third place at the 2024 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 800 and was part of a conference runner-up Lopes team in the 1,600-meter relay. Archer joined GCU in 2022 after transferring from Texas Tech.
Connor Mattison, baseball
Mattison made a first-year splash by throwing GCU's first no-hitter in 42 years with a 10-strikeout performance against Sacramento State. It was part of the right-handed pitcher tying for the team lead in wins (six) and ranking second in the WAC with 80 strikeouts.
From nearby Goodyear, Arizona, Mattison started a staff-high 13 games in 2024 and recorded the fourth-highest single-season rate of strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9.
Savannah Kirk, softball
Kirk won WAC Freshman of the Year for the conference regular-season and postseason champions that reached an NCAA regional final and went 50-13.
The second baseman from nearby Waddell, Arizona, earned an All-WAC first team spot after hitting .389 with nine doubles, 19 stolen bases and 20 RBIs. She went 5 for 9 in the final three games of the Los Angeles Regional with two stolen bases.
Both of this year's Freshman of the Year winners are graduates of Canyon View High School, which is located 20 miles west of GCU in Waddell.
Harper Houk, swimming
Houk won the athletic department's longest-running award, encompassing all contributions as a GCU student-athlete. Houk is working on a master's degree in Divinity after earning his undergraduate degree in Sports and Entertainment Management. His grades have placed the native of Knoxville, Tennessee, on Academic All-WAC for three consecutive years. He also has donated 88 community service hours in addition to being a GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative, a Building Champions Leadership Academy member and co-hosting the SuperBold Podcast on the bridge of faith and sports.
In the pool, the Lopes swimming and diving team leader scored 18 points in the 2024 WAC Championships with top-15 finishes in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes and the 200 individual medley. Two of Houk's swim times rank among the top 10 in GCU history for the event, and he was part of a 200 medley relay that swam the seventh-fastest time in GCU swim history. Â
Laura Erikstrup, basketball
Erikstrup earned a graduate degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Business Analytics to earn Academic All-WAC honors while starring for the GCU women's basketball program's first WAC championship team and NCAA Division I Tournament qualifier. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle leader also served as a GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative and has committed more than 90 hours of community service since joining GCU in 2023.
The 6-foot-2 forward from Portland, Oregon, led the WAC in field goal percentage at 60.9%, a clip that ranked ninth nationally. She ranked in the conference's top five for scoring (14.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.0 boards per game) to help GCU finish 32-3, the third-best record by winning percentage in the nation.
The beach volleyball team claimed its third consecutive L.O.P.E.S. (Leadership, Ownership, Purpose, Excellence, Service) Cup. With its excellence on the courts as a nationally ranked program, the Lopes devoted hundreds of hours cumulatively to community service and amassed a department-best team GPA while attending Lopes for Life events and other GCU teams' competitions.
Men's golf
The beach volleyball team carried the top overall team grade point average under head coach Abra Rummel while men's golf head coach Mark Mueller's squad repeated as the champion on the men's side, just as it did in WAC champioship play.
Destinee Duran-Wise, soccer
The fourth annual Oscar Frayer Spirit Award, honoring the memory of the late GCU basketball player, went to an athlete who crossed paths with Frayer in her freshman year. The honor recognizes a GCU student-athlete who carries on Frayer's legacy with the same love for the team, GCU Athletics, the campus community and the university's Christian mission.
Duran-Wise is the second winningest player in GCU women's soccer program history after playing for teams that went 52-22-11 during her four-year career. The defender and two-time team captain from Phoenix started 51 matches and logged 4,938 minutes for a defense that averaged 1.0 goal allowed per game over her four seasons. Her tenure included GCU's first two NCAA tournament qualifiers.Â
She also has served as vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, worked in GCU Athletics' game operation and served more than 120 hours for community charities.
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Awards were voted on by GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and GCU Athletics administration. Performances from spring of 2024 and the fall/winter of 2024-25 were considered.
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For the winners of the annual Lopey Awards honoring GCU Athletics' achievements, it was yet another accomplishment on a pile of Lopes successes from the past year. The purple carpet rolled out at Global Credit Union Arena, where hundreds of GCU student-athletes, coaches and staffers met to appreciate how the university community and GCU Athletics are bound."This past year has been one of the most exciting for GCU and for our Athletics programs," GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. "We won a total of 13 championships last year. That's a university record. Four programs advanced in the NCAA Tournament — men's basketball, baseball, softball, men's volleyball making it all the way tot the semifinals of their tournament. We had seven All-Americans last year and, of course, we earned another WAC Commissioner's Cup. Congratulations to all of you on the success, but it's continued into this year.
"Our theme this past year was 'We believe.' We believe we have everything it takes to succeed. We believe that God has placed us here in the longest Christian university in the country to do His work and to be His hands and feet with a platform of athletics. We also believe it takes an entire university and an entire community to win championships.
GCU President Brian Mueller gave praise to Boggs for navigating the complicated current state of collegiate athletics and the Lopes coaches, staffers and spirit programs for their commitment before heaping praise on the stars of the night — the GCU student-athletes.
"We don't take it for granted that you chose Grand Canyon," Mueller said. "We are glad that you're here. We are very grateful for your performance and we're especially grateful for the way you represent the university, not only on the playing field but in our community. It exemplifies excellence, but it also exemplifies the mission that we have to serve others."
MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Camden Gianni, men's volleyballGianni ended a heralded career as an All-America first-team honoree on GCU's first NCAA Final Four team that went 26-5, setting a program record for wins. The Carlsbad, California, earned All-NCAA Tournament Team and All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first-team honors as well while setting the GCU record for career aces (211). Gianni's 1,396 career kills rank second in program history.
After a life-threatening heart surgery delayed his GCU career start, Gianni played 117 matches as a Lope with 3.5 kills per set and a career .286 hitting percentage. He also has been a member of USA Volleyball teams.
FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Ashley Trierweiler, softballTrierweiler led the nation with 94 hits and finished fourth for batting average at .456 to lead GCU to WAC regular-season and postseason championships and the program's first NCAA regional final. In her first season as a first baseman, the native of Belmont, California, became GCU's first WAC Player of the Year and earned All-West Region second-team recognition.Â
The graduate student tallied 27 mutli-hit games, 37 RBIs with 15 doubles, two triples and two home runs while stealing 25 bases on 27 tries. She was the national leader in career batting average among active players in her 2024 season. Her on-base percentage was .509, and her slugging percentage hit .578 after she started every game for the record-setting 50-13 Lopes.Â
MALE BREAKTHROUGH STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Isaac Lyon, baseballLyon emerged as the starting rotation's steadiest pitcher in 2024, going 6-1 with a team-high 81 2/3 innings after throwing just 13 2/3 innings as a freshman in 2023. The right-hander from Utah dropped his ERA by more than three runs to 3.97 in 2024, when he was called upon for rare relief at the Tucson Region and threw three shutout innings to beat host Arizona.
In WAC play, Lyon was 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA (seventh best in the conference) to be named to the All-WAC first team. He threw five strikeouts for every walk as a sophomore in 17 appearances.Â
FEMALE BREAKTHROUGH STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Joanna Archer, track and fieldArcher won the WAC 800-meter championship and advanced to the NCAA Championships with a season-best time of 2 minutes, 3.52 seconds in the NCAA West preliminary. The native of Guyana finished 23rd nationally, improving upon her 2022 times after redshirting the 2023 outdoor season.
Archer also took third place at the 2024 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 800 and was part of a conference runner-up Lopes team in the 1,600-meter relay. Archer joined GCU in 2022 after transferring from Texas Tech.
MALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Connor Mattison, baseballMattison made a first-year splash by throwing GCU's first no-hitter in 42 years with a 10-strikeout performance against Sacramento State. It was part of the right-handed pitcher tying for the team lead in wins (six) and ranking second in the WAC with 80 strikeouts.
From nearby Goodyear, Arizona, Mattison started a staff-high 13 games in 2024 and recorded the fourth-highest single-season rate of strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9.
FEMALE FRESHMANÂ OF THE YEAR
Savannah Kirk, softballKirk won WAC Freshman of the Year for the conference regular-season and postseason champions that reached an NCAA regional final and went 50-13.
The second baseman from nearby Waddell, Arizona, earned an All-WAC first team spot after hitting .389 with nine doubles, 19 stolen bases and 20 RBIs. She went 5 for 9 in the final three games of the Los Angeles Regional with two stolen bases.
Both of this year's Freshman of the Year winners are graduates of Canyon View High School, which is located 20 miles west of GCU in Waddell.
MALE ROLAND L. BECK SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Harper Houk, swimmingHouk won the athletic department's longest-running award, encompassing all contributions as a GCU student-athlete. Houk is working on a master's degree in Divinity after earning his undergraduate degree in Sports and Entertainment Management. His grades have placed the native of Knoxville, Tennessee, on Academic All-WAC for three consecutive years. He also has donated 88 community service hours in addition to being a GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative, a Building Champions Leadership Academy member and co-hosting the SuperBold Podcast on the bridge of faith and sports.
In the pool, the Lopes swimming and diving team leader scored 18 points in the 2024 WAC Championships with top-15 finishes in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes and the 200 individual medley. Two of Houk's swim times rank among the top 10 in GCU history for the event, and he was part of a 200 medley relay that swam the seventh-fastest time in GCU swim history. Â
FEMALE ROLAND L. BECK SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Laura Erikstrup, basketballErikstrup earned a graduate degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Business Analytics to earn Academic All-WAC honors while starring for the GCU women's basketball program's first WAC championship team and NCAA Division I Tournament qualifier. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle leader also served as a GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative and has committed more than 90 hours of community service since joining GCU in 2023.
The 6-foot-2 forward from Portland, Oregon, led the WAC in field goal percentage at 60.9%, a clip that ranked ninth nationally. She ranked in the conference's top five for scoring (14.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.0 boards per game) to help GCU finish 32-3, the third-best record by winning percentage in the nation.
THUNDER AWARDS
The awards go to an impact athlete for each GCU team. The winners are:- Eli Paton, baseball
- Lök Wur, men's basketball
- Tiarra Brown, women's basketball
- Jessica Drake, beach volleyball
- Ethan Smith, men's cross country
- Shoshanah Stukas, women's cross country
- Grant Hagaman, men's track and field
- Maria Sartin, women's track and field
- Gavin O'Neill, men's golf
- Anci Dy, women's golf
- Erick Monge, men's soccer
- Grace Bartlett, women's soccer
- Makaiya Gomez, softball
- Alex Volkov, men's swimming and diving
- Maria Brunlehner, women's swimming and diving
- Paolo Rosati, men's tennis
- Valentina Del Marco, women's tennis
- Cooper Herndon, men's volleyball
- Ashley Lifgren, women's volleyball
L.O.P.E.S. CUP
Beach volleyballThe beach volleyball team claimed its third consecutive L.O.P.E.S. (Leadership, Ownership, Purpose, Excellence, Service) Cup. With its excellence on the courts as a nationally ranked program, the Lopes devoted hundreds of hours cumulatively to community service and amassed a department-best team GPA while attending Lopes for Life events and other GCU teams' competitions.
TOP TEAM GPAÂ OF THE YEAR
Beach volleyballMen's golf
The beach volleyball team carried the top overall team grade point average under head coach Abra Rummel while men's golf head coach Mark Mueller's squad repeated as the champion on the men's side, just as it did in WAC champioship play.
OSCAR FRAYER SPIRIT AWARD
Destinee Duran-Wise, soccerThe fourth annual Oscar Frayer Spirit Award, honoring the memory of the late GCU basketball player, went to an athlete who crossed paths with Frayer in her freshman year. The honor recognizes a GCU student-athlete who carries on Frayer's legacy with the same love for the team, GCU Athletics, the campus community and the university's Christian mission.
Duran-Wise is the second winningest player in GCU women's soccer program history after playing for teams that went 52-22-11 during her four-year career. The defender and two-time team captain from Phoenix started 51 matches and logged 4,938 minutes for a defense that averaged 1.0 goal allowed per game over her four seasons. Her tenure included GCU's first two NCAA tournament qualifiers.Â
She also has served as vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, worked in GCU Athletics' game operation and served more than 120 hours for community charities.
Â
Awards were voted on by GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and GCU Athletics administration. Performances from spring of 2024 and the fall/winter of 2024-25 were considered.
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