Completed Event: Women's Tennis at Northern Arizona on March 20, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 7
W Tennis
at Northern Arizona
L 0-7
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Vorster gets WAC Coach of the Year with 4 All-WAC players
5/1/2025 2:30:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Hofbauer takes home conference honors for 1st team on singles, doubles
Grand Canyon received plenty of conference awards after its third consecutive WAC Tournament championship, including first-year head coach Dané Vorster being chose for WAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year.
Leading the way for four All-WAC honorees on the GCU roster, freshman Karina Hofbauer landed on the All-WAC first team in singles and doubles. She was joined by sophomore partner Gala Arangio on the All-WAC first team for Doubles. Bella Crossman, another Lopes freshman standout, also was recognized on the first team for singles. Arangio and junior Dania Deaifi made the All-WAC second team for singles play.
Vor
ster was named the 10th head coach in GCU program history just less than 11 months ago. In that time, Vorster not only built almost an entirely new roster after personnel losses to graduation and the transfer portal, but Te Australian also guided her revamped team to the NCAA Tournament for the program's third consecutive season.
Leading a Lopes roster with four freshmen who all played down the stretch of the season and with three of them joining GCU's roster in January, Vorster was a shoo-in to be picked for the conference accolade after increasing the Lopes' All-WAC honorees from three last season to four this season.
Hofbauer was one of the players to arrive in January. In less than two weeks, the German was playing on Court 1 for GCU singles and doubles.
Hofbauer went 9-5 on Court 1 in singles and 11-9 in doubles overall. Hofbauer and Arangio, who were recognized as the best doubles pair in the conference, went 11-6 as a pair on Court 1. The Lopes duo clinched the doubles point in each of the WAC Tournament matches that secured a conference championship.
Arangio, who is from Buenos Aries, Argentina, also received conference recognition in her debut GCU season for how she played on the singles courts, making the All-WAC second team.
Arangio went 11-8 on the season in singles matches, exclusively playing on Court 2 after the first four matches of the season at Court 3. The Iowa State transfer also went 2-0 in singles play at the WAC Tournament, where she won both of her matches in straight sets. She won 24 of 34 games at the conference tournament in Texas.
Another freshman success story came from Bella Crossman, an Australian who arrived in Phoenix in January with Hofbauer and fellow Australian freshman Peyton Duckett.
Crossman joins Hofbauer on the All-WAC first team for singles after dominating Courts 3 and 4 all season. She enters the NCAA Austin Regional with a 15-4 record in singles, including straight-set victories on Court 3 in both of her WAC Tournament matches. She has gone 5-1 since her move to Court 3 and was leading an unfinished match against NCAA tournament qualifier Sacramento State.
Finally, GCU junior Dania Deaifi made the All-WAC second team for singles on the heels of her WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player performance. Deaifi went 12-7 on the season with a 4-0 WAC Tournament record in singles and doubles combined. She dominated singles at the conference tournament, taking 24 of 31 games, and paired with Crossman for convincing 6-2 and 6-3 wins.
Deaifi, who is from Irvine, California, will be making her third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with GCU on Friday.
The Lopes face their biggest challenge all season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, where they face Texas, the 14th-ranked host of the Austin Regional, at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time).
Lamija Avdic, Seattle U
WAC Freshman of the Year
Maria Castano, Tarleton State
WAC Coach of the Year
Dané Vorster, Grand Canyon
All-WAC first team
Maria Cascos, Abilene Christian
Bella Crossman, GCU
Karina Hofbauer, GCU
Lamija Avdic, Seattle U
Maria Castano, Tarleton State
Ana Paula Jimenez, UT Arlington
Karina Hofbauer and Gala Arangio, GCU (coubles)
All-WAC second team
Gala Arangio, GCU
Dania Deaifi, GCU
Noelia Lorca, Tarleton State
Adeliya Mukhutdinova, Tarleton State
Maria Lucia Araoz-Gosn, UT Arlington
Maya Inouye, Utah Tech
Lamija Avdic and Natalia Michta, Seattle U (doubles)
Maretha Burger and Emma Persson, Tarleton State (doubles)
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Leading the way for four All-WAC honorees on the GCU roster, freshman Karina Hofbauer landed on the All-WAC first team in singles and doubles. She was joined by sophomore partner Gala Arangio on the All-WAC first team for Doubles. Bella Crossman, another Lopes freshman standout, also was recognized on the first team for singles. Arangio and junior Dania Deaifi made the All-WAC second team for singles play.
Vor
ster was named the 10th head coach in GCU program history just less than 11 months ago. In that time, Vorster not only built almost an entirely new roster after personnel losses to graduation and the transfer portal, but Te Australian also guided her revamped team to the NCAA Tournament for the program's third consecutive season.Leading a Lopes roster with four freshmen who all played down the stretch of the season and with three of them joining GCU's roster in January, Vorster was a shoo-in to be picked for the conference accolade after increasing the Lopes' All-WAC honorees from three last season to four this season.
Hofbauer was one of the players to arrive in January. In less than two weeks, the German was playing on Court 1 for GCU singles and doubles.Hofbauer went 9-5 on Court 1 in singles and 11-9 in doubles overall. Hofbauer and Arangio, who were recognized as the best doubles pair in the conference, went 11-6 as a pair on Court 1. The Lopes duo clinched the doubles point in each of the WAC Tournament matches that secured a conference championship.
Arangio, who is from Buenos Aries, Argentina, also received conference recognition in her debut GCU season for how she played on the singles courts, making the All-WAC second team.Arangio went 11-8 on the season in singles matches, exclusively playing on Court 2 after the first four matches of the season at Court 3. The Iowa State transfer also went 2-0 in singles play at the WAC Tournament, where she won both of her matches in straight sets. She won 24 of 34 games at the conference tournament in Texas.
Another freshman success story came from Bella Crossman, an Australian who arrived in Phoenix in January with Hofbauer and fellow Australian freshman Peyton Duckett.Crossman joins Hofbauer on the All-WAC first team for singles after dominating Courts 3 and 4 all season. She enters the NCAA Austin Regional with a 15-4 record in singles, including straight-set victories on Court 3 in both of her WAC Tournament matches. She has gone 5-1 since her move to Court 3 and was leading an unfinished match against NCAA tournament qualifier Sacramento State.
Finally, GCU junior Dania Deaifi made the All-WAC second team for singles on the heels of her WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player performance. Deaifi went 12-7 on the season with a 4-0 WAC Tournament record in singles and doubles combined. She dominated singles at the conference tournament, taking 24 of 31 games, and paired with Crossman for convincing 6-2 and 6-3 wins.Deaifi, who is from Irvine, California, will be making her third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with GCU on Friday.
The Lopes face their biggest challenge all season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, where they face Texas, the 14th-ranked host of the Austin Regional, at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time).
2024-25 WAC women's tennis awards
WAC Player of the YearLamija Avdic, Seattle U
WAC Freshman of the Year
Maria Castano, Tarleton State
WAC Coach of the Year
Dané Vorster, Grand Canyon
All-WAC first team
Maria Cascos, Abilene Christian
Bella Crossman, GCU
Karina Hofbauer, GCU
Lamija Avdic, Seattle U
Maria Castano, Tarleton State
Ana Paula Jimenez, UT Arlington
Karina Hofbauer and Gala Arangio, GCU (coubles)
All-WAC second team
Gala Arangio, GCU
Dania Deaifi, GCU
Noelia Lorca, Tarleton State
Adeliya Mukhutdinova, Tarleton State
Maria Lucia Araoz-Gosn, UT Arlington
Maya Inouye, Utah Tech
Lamija Avdic and Natalia Michta, Seattle U (doubles)
Maretha Burger and Emma Persson, Tarleton State (doubles)
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Players Mentioned
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Women's Wins the WAC Title
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