5/1/2025 11:53:00 AM | Women's Tennis, Paul Coro
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GCU faces No. 14 Texas in Austin for 1st-round dual Friday
By: Paul Coro
With a first-year coach and mostly new players with some arriving in January, Grand Canyon women's tennis seemed to be in a whirlwind to maintain the program's championship level.
GCU is the whirlwind.
The Lopes blew through cultural and athletic adjustments to become a three-peat WAC champion on April 19, a moment that led to this week's gust that took the Lopes from an athletic department conference room watching the NCAA tournament selection show Monday to playing at No. 14 Texas in a first-round dual match Friday.
With junior Dania Deaifi being the only returning player in GCU's lineup, the Lopes met their high standard with ambitious players and first-year head coach Dané Vorster implementing a daily urgency. They played an ambitious schedule with four fellow NCAA tournament qualifiers and 16 of 23 matches away from GCU to reach Friday's elite platform.
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Head coach Dané Vorster
"The team really bought in straight away with the vision and our goals," Vorster said. "With many arriving in January, they had to get on the train quickly. We played tough matches and spent a lot of time on the road. That really brought them together to connect and believe and get behind this common goal. When WAC arrived, it was just locked in. I never have seen a team believe and be so focused to get to that end goal."
Deaifi had just rallied to even her NCAA tournament singles match last year when San Diego clinched that first-round win against GCU. The Irvine, California, native played at Courts 2, 3 and 4 in singles this year, going 7-1 on Court 3 and teaming with freshman Bella Crossman of Australia for an 8-2 doubles record on Court 2.
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  Crossman and Deaifi
"We're going in really confident," said Deaifi, who will be playing in her third NCAA tournament for GCU on Friday. "We finished the season really strong, especially with this new team. We're going in confident, not scared, not nervous. We're going to go play our games and hopefully show out."
With four freshmen on the seven-member team, GCU obliterated the WAC Tournament competition with shutouts to capture its third consecutive conference championship. The in-season progress showed That included a 4-0 semifinal against Abilene Christian, which it had edged 4-3 just two weeks earlier in its first indoor competition.
The freshmen have adapted well and quickly with Crossman going 14-4 on Courts 3 and 4 and Karina Hofbauer of Germany going 9-5 on Court 1. Sophomore Gala Arangio of Argentina, also a newcomer after transferring from Iowa State, is 9-3 on Court 2 and has teamed with Hofbauer for an 11-6 record in Court 1 doubles.
"I recruited the talent that I believed could win the WAC and be competitive at the national level," Vorster said. "We want to always be at the NCAAs every year, whether it is at large or winning a conference. We want to be here every year and be more competitive, winning a round and finishing in the top-50 rankings.
"This is good exposure for our younger players to see what it's all about and to see that next level of competition. The best in the country is here right now."
Friday's match will not be GCU's first look at a top-15 opponent this season. In the second match of January, the Lopes went to then-No. 14 California. The Lopes lost 4-0 to the Golden Bears, but even that raw, newly formed GCU team was on its way to split sets on three of the six singles courts when Cal clinched the win.
Texas (16-10) is hosting the regional, which also includes No. 22 Baylor (20-5) and Boise State (19-5), after securing a top-16 national seed for the seventh consecutive season, including a 2022 national championship. The Longhorns have won eight consecutive NCAA first-round matches.
"We have seen the level," Vorster said. "We are not intimidated. So far this week, it seems like another match or another WAC Championship that we're going to."
GCU (13-10) plays at Texas Tennis Center, where admission is free, at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) following the Baylor-Boise State match. Winners play Saturday at 2 p.m. (Phoenix time).
