Lopes fall to No. 5 Texas, No. 2 UCLA

Friday, March 6

Los Angeles, Calif.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Texas

Keefe and Edler after winning 3-set match over ucla

Photo by: Alex Haack

3/6/2026 2:41:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

Edler, Keefe win thriller vs. Bruins; GCU faces Cal, USC on Saturday

By: Nathan Peters

LOS ANGELES — Grand Canyon dropped a pair of matches against top-five opponents Friday at Mapes Beach in Los Angeles, falling 5-0 to No. 5 Texas before competing in a 4-1 loss to No. 2 UCLA in the second dual of the day.

UCLA entered the day ranked No. 2, and Texas is ranked No. 5, providing GCU with opportunities to test itself against elite national competition early in the season.

The Lopes (5-5) faced two of the nation's premier programs, highlighted by a three-set win from the No. 3 pair of senior Katie Keefe and junior Sarah Edler against the Bruins.

Against Texas, the Longhorns secured the 5-0 victory with the court order of finish going 2, 4, 5, 1, 3.

Texas built early momentum with straight-set wins on Courts 2 and 4 before clinching the dual on Court 5. The Lopes' No. 1 pairing of senior Karynn Garrow and senior Becca Drake nearly extended the match, pushing Brecht Piersma and Katie Hashman to a tight second set before falling 21-18, 22-20.

The final match concluded on Court 3, where Keefe and Edler won the opening set before Texas rallied to take the next two sets to close the dual.

Later in the day, GCU challenged No. 2 UCLA, with the Bruins ultimately taking the dual 4-1. The order of finish was 4, 2, 1, 5, 3 as UCLA clinched the team victory after wins on Courts 4, 2 and 1.

The Lopes' point came at Court 3, where Keefe and Edler defeated Cassie Dodd and Alexa Fernandez 21-10, 20-22, 21-19. In the deciding set, the GCU duo fought off numerous UCLA match points before the Lopes duo converted on its fourth match point to secure the win.

3's pair wins the battle 21-10, 20-22, 21-19 over UCLA! #LopesUp

📺 B1G+ pic.twitter.com/F9FCtx563g
— GCU Beach Volleyball (@GCU_Beach) March 6, 2026

GCU will continue play Saturday with two more ranked matchups, facing No. 10 California at 9 a.m. (Phoenix time) and No. 3 USC at 1 p.m., with both duals streaming on the B1G+ Network.