Battle-tested GCU breaks through to NCAAs

When its NCAA Tournament hopes could not afford a misstep this month, Grand Canyon battled from a 2-0 deficit for a reverse sweep victory at Boise State.

Beach NCAAs

When its season goals were shook by three losses on opening weekend, GCU battled out of it to reach a national No. 11 ranking.

When the program's last NCAA Tournament team lost 80% of its starters for 2024, the Lopes battled back to be a top-15 program over 2025 and 2026.

That battle-tested path put GCU in a battle alongside the sport's giants when the Lopes learned Sunday that they are returning to the NCAA Tournament. As the 16-team national championship's No. 11 seed and only Arizona representative, the Lopes will face No. 6 seed Cal Poly in a Friday dual match at 2 p.m. (Phoenix time) in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The match will broadcast on ESPN2.

"It's been such a testament to the support the university has given me to allow me to be successful but also the character of the girls we brought in and how hard they worked," said GCU third-year head coach Abra Rummel, who was an assistant coach for the Lopes' 2022 and 2023 NCAA Tournament teams. "This is the definition of hard work, perseverance, staying the course and trusting the process. That has led us to go from where I started to where we are now."

Since March 20, GCU (19-15) recorded five victories against top-20 teams, including winning at Arizona State and defeating LSU twice, to bolster its resume and carry the state flag for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.

It is a full-circle accomplishment for Lopes senior Jessica Drake, who was a freshman on GCU's 2023 NCAA Tournament team in Gulf Shores. That team led Stanford 2-1 before 15-13 third-set losses on Drake's court and another handed GCU a heartbreaking 3-2 loss.

This time, she will have her sister, junior Becca Drake, on a court alongside her.

"It just means 10 times more," Jessica said. "At the beginning of the year, I said I want to go out my senior year with a bang in Gulf Shores on the same team as Becca.

"This team worked so hard the past few years, whether it was in the weight room or our mentality. It's definitely been a process of getting over the hump and getting back to where we knew we could be. It's been fun. It's been a fight."

This is also a return trip for GCU senior Katie Keefe, but it is her first NCAA Tournament experience with the Lopes. The 6-foot-1 London native was a Stetson freshman who was not in the lineup for its 2022 NCAA Tournament loss and has been at GCU for three seasons.

"This is the perfect way to end it, like a fairytale ending," Keefe said. "I feel like we always knew deep down that we could do it. We just knew we had to keep working hard every week. Every week was just as important as the next.

"The tournament is the pinnacle of beach volleyball for college. It feels very professional because you see all the other teams are locked in, but it's also an enjoyable place to be on the beach. I was hoping to get back earlier, but that makes this even sweeter."

GCU (19-15) lost 5-0 at Cal Poly (30-8) on March 13 with a raucous home environment in San Luis Obispo, California. This rematch with the Big West champion will be on neutral sand, but the larger factor for a GCU turnaround is that junior Isabelle Tucker has returned from injury since that match. Her play changed the team's postseason outlook, with Tucker and Jessica Drake teaming for a 5-1 record down the stretch on Courts 4 and 5.

"The one great thing about our team is we get better each week," Keefe said. "I think we're a lot stronger team than we were at Cal Poly."

The GCU-Cal Poly winner will advance to a Saturday 11 a.m. quarterfinal against the winner of No. 3 seed UCLA (30-6) and No. 14 Tulane (26-13).

"We had a pretty abysmal opening weekend," Rummel said. "We told them that all we could do is focus on the moment we are in and find a way to get better and better throughout the season. There was a very narrow channel that we had to shoot in order to make it to this point. And they showed up in every big moment."

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Players Mentioned

Becca Drake

Jessica Drake

Katie Keefe

Isabelle Tucker

Grand Canyon University Athletics